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.USII*'- 

Se. 

Introduction 

Things are continually happening in the grow- 
ing co-educational college of Huntingdon. Much 
of the bustle centers about Winifred Lowe and her 
friends among both the girls and the boys. Their 
activities lead them into adventures, funny and 
otherwise, and into the friendship of many kinds 
of people. 

'‘A Freshman Co-ed” presented Winifred as 
the chancellor’s secretary, and a member of the 
Alpha Gamma sorority. She was intent on solv- 
ing some rather big problems connected with both 
positions. They are problems in which she is 
aided by the rhyming nonsense and unfailing 
common sense of Louise Wallace, by Landon 
Stearns, a loyal friend, and by Helen Joyce Forest, 
a famous writer and the founder of Alpha Gamma, 
who, in an unexpected manner, brings order and 
satisfaction out of the chaos of Winifred’s prob- 
lems. 

In A Sophomore Co-ed,” the keenest business 
man in Huntingdon appears, grim, silent and 
opposed to co-education. That is, he begins the 
year as its opponent. Then, on his horizon, 
3 


INTRODUCTION 


dawns a group of students led by Winifred, who 
lay siege to his ofi&ce and his newspaper in the 
interests of the college. The keenest business man 
in Huntingdon undergoes a change of heart in 
regard to a great many things, co-education among 
them. Winifred is triumphant, and the college 
profits. 

Finally to the chapter house came as house- 
keeper Sairy Mary Betts, “ she that was a Davis 
and became a Carter.’^ Sairy never had breath 
enough to last through three syllables, but she 
held in a firm grasp the heart of Moses Carter, the 
proud possessor of four hundred acres and much 
blooded and boasted live stock. The circumstances 
under which she came to change her name to 
Carter, the part which Winifred and her friends 
play and the story of the square young man, are 
duly recorded in ‘‘ A Junior Co-ed.’* 


4 


Contents 


I. 

“ Doctor X. Y. Z.” . 




9 

11 . 

A Well Kept Secret 




24 

III. 

“ A Watched Pot ” . 




39 

IV. 

Calls and Callers . 




53 

V. 

Search-Lights . 




68 

VI. 

Too Much Light on the Subject 



77 

VII. 

The Two-Faced House 




93 

VIII. 

The “ Hen Hussy” . 




112 

IX. 

Uncovering Trails . 




131 

X. 

Meeting Mrs. Cregg 




H 7 

XI. 

The Letter From Boothbay 




164 

XII. 

Elise Shreve 




179 

XIII. 

A Deferred Wedding Tour 




196 

XIV. 

Rameses the Great . 




214 

XV. 

A “ Sheepish ” Idea . 




230 

XVI. 

A Tall George Washington 




249 

XVII. 

A Prisoner of Peace 




267 

XVIII. 

An Amateur Detective . 




287 

XIX. 

The Bird and Animal House 




303 

XX. 

In the Long Shed 




323 

XXI. 

‘‘Oh, Huntingdon, For Thee 

»> 



343 


5 


Illustrations 


“Now, What Has Happened?” 

“That Ought to Lead to Something” 
“There She Is — Q uick!” 

The Girls Loitered .... 
Down the Steep Hill They Raced 
Against a Background of Glowing Coals 
“ It’s Sort of Nice to Get Home ” 


. Frontispiece 

. io8 

• 157 ^ 

• 193 

. . 220 

. . 260 

• 329 


A Senior Co-ed. 


A Senior Co-ed 


CHAPTER I 
“doctor X. Y. zP 

Winifred Lowe, stewardess of the Alpha Gamma 
Chapter House, made her way slowly from the 
kitchen to the front stairs, her fluffy yellow head 
bent so intently over a paper which she grasped 
that her feet marked a zigzag trail. 

Rebecca Bicknell glanced into the hall from the 
back parlor where she knelt — an unwilling devotee 
at the shrine of learning — in front of the couch on 
which reposed a bulky volume, a note-book and 
pencil. 

“ What are you studying, Winifred ? she called. 

“ Kitchen lore ! The stewardess paused with- 
out looking up. “ This is the curriculum : two 
bushels of potatoes, a pound of corn-starch, six cans 
of tomatoes 

“Go hence I” interrupted Rebecca seizing her 
pencil. “ That's too poetical for me. I prefer plain 
classical prose." 




A SENIOR CO-ED 


From the library on the other side of the hall 
the telephone bell rang, and Winifred, swerving 
from her course, put the receiver to her ear. 

“ Winifred Lowe is wanted,^' Central informed 
the listening ear. 

Yes, I am Winifred Lowe.” 

At once a deep unfamiliar tone asked tentatively^ 

Miss Lowe? ” 

“ Yes. To whom am I talking, please?” 

Me, myself, the afflicted one.” 

Winifred burst out laughing. Oh, Louise 
Wallace ! I might have guessed.” 

The deep voice became natural. In drawling, 
whimsical tones it corrected her, “Alas, no longer 
Wallace ! She that was I This brings me to the 
point of a little advice. I volunteer it out of a 
rich storehouse of experience.” 

“ And it is ” 

“ Never,” in long drawn, solemn tones, “ never 
marry — at least not until you have an excellent 
opportunity I ” 

Winifred's tone was choked. “ Now, what has 
happened ? ” 

“ Household affairs, my dear. They have a way 
of happening right along without ceasing and 
always at the wrong time.” 

Winifred's tone showed sudden enlightenment. 
“ Louise, has your new cook left?” 

10 


^‘DOCTOR X. r. Z/' 


“ She has. She left before the mud from her 
entering shoes had dried on the kitchen floor.” 

“ I^m so sorry.” 

‘‘Hum — yes, your tone shows that you are. 
Avaunt Mirth I Enter Sorrow I ” 

“ What are you going to do now ? ” 

“ Do for myself. I'm perfectly capable — allow- 
ing me to be the charitable judge. Cousin Anne 
Sweet says I'll drive Ashley to drink in six weeks. 
But, as I told her, I intend to drive him into con- 
sumption instead — of good food, that is. I'm not 
the finished product of a cooking school for noth- 
ing. But seriously, Winifred, the thing that's 
actually troubling me is this : I've got to begin 
entertaining before long, and without a good cook 
that is real work. Don't know how I can man- 
age.” 

“ Employ me,” suggested Winifred. 

“ I'm going to,” promptly, “ but it will be for a 
parlor ornament instead of a kitchen serf. I 
should like to employ you to originate a brand 
new and attractive plan of entertaining that would 
allow me to pay my social debts without assuming 
the kitchen burden as well as the burdens of the 
parlor. But honestly, Winifred, I didn't call you 
up to hear my woes, but to ask you when your 
afternoon at home occurs, and whether it comes in 
the afternoon or the morning. I want to see you.” 

11 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


Come up at eleven. Tm through then for the 
day.'' 

I'll be there. I have a tale to unfold, and a 
secret to impart for the good of our college." 

Mrs. Ashley Grey could say our," being her- 
self an alumna of only three years' standing. 

Winifred's tone betokened a lively interest. I 
shall be doubly glad to see you then. Good-bye." 

But, Winifred — wait — will Lillian Antwerp be 
in at eleven ? I want to see her also." 

Winifred’s tone now expressed lively curiosity. 

Yes, she will be. What " a sharp click told 

her that Louise no longer heard. 

Arriving at her own room, Winifred wrote in 
large letters, Miss Antwerp is hereby subpoenaed 
to appear in Room 1 at 11:15, sharp." This the 
occupant of Room 1 pinned on Lillian's door and 
then seated herself in front of her desk while the 
quiet of the chapter house was invaded only by 
the sound of the incessant tread of students’ feet on 
the walks which led from the buildings at the 
summit of the Hill down the campus to College 
Road. 

Her pen was flying across the pages of a note- 
book in pursuit of her thoughts when a light tap 
sounded on the door and Rebecca's amused face 
appeared and Rebecca's amused voice gave in- 
formation : 


12 


^^DOCTOR X. r. Z.’’ 


There^s a gentleman below asking to see the 
most sensible girl in the chapter house. Of course, 
I lost no time in introducing myself as such, but 
he allowed me to see that I was laboring under a 
misapprehension ! 

“ It's Mr. Carter," laughed Winifred arising and 
running the comb through her hair. It's the 
Captain of the Farming Industry. If he isn't a 
character ! " 

He can afford to be a character when he owns 
Hour hundred acres and seven hired men and a 
Two-Faced House and blooded stock which takes 
money regardless,' " quoted Rebecca in a whisper. 

Winifred found Moses Carter located in the wide 
doorway between the front and back parlors. It 
was a strategic point commanding a view of the 
entire first floor, at present empty save for the 
presence of the industrial captain and the most 
sensible girl. Having enjoyed a year's acquaint- 
ance with him, his hostess immediately recognized 
the fact that Mr. Carter was suffering from an 
attack of mental indigestion and had come to her 
for a tonic. His manner lacked the full quota of 
his usual large self-assurance. His face, cheru- 
bically round and deeply red, was slightly 
overcast. 

Arising, he shook hands, laboriously announc- 
ing, I come to see you on a little business. I 

13 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


come in the mornin^ so the place wouldn’t be over- 
run with all them pesky girls.” 

He reseated himself and thumped his derby on 
his knee, continuing argumentatively, Now you 
know my habit of cornin’ right to the point when 
I talk business — eh ? ” 

Winifred nodded. Right to the point,” she 
repeated. 

Mr. Carter moved uneasily. He whacked his 
knee so violently that his derby was deeply dented. 
He cleared his throat. I can’t bear to have any 
one heatin’ around the bush. If I have anything 
to say myself I come right out with it, if I do say 
it as shouldn’t ! ” 

He paused and coughed against the misused 
derby. Then bending forward, he peered into the 
library. 

“ We are alone,” Winifred assured him. 

Moses drew back and busied himself with the 
dent in his hat. ‘‘Mum’s the word, is it?” he 
asked abruptly. 

Winifred assented with more solemnity than 
she felt, whereupon Moses began as far away from 
the object of his call as he could get and yet see 
his way clear to reaching it finally. 

“ You know Sairy Mary. She hain’t got an 
equal in the state, if I do say it, but when Sairy 
will she will and when she won’t she won’t I ” 

14 


^^DOCTOR X, r. Z/’ 


Winifred nodded encouragingly. 

Well, there’s one thing where it’s all won’t 
with her.” Mr. Carter again surveyed the empty 
rooms adding abruptly, ‘‘ ‘ Mum’s ’ the word, you 
said.” 

Again Winifred nodded. 

The Captain of Industry hesitated, redented 
his hat, jerked at the ends of his purple tie and 
then burst out, She won’t take a weddin’ tower, 
and all that I can say don’t influence her.” 

A wedding tour ! ” Winifred’s words were 
italicized with astonishment. Why, Mr. Carter, 
you were married last January I ” 

Mr. Carter’s mobile face writhed and twisted in 
a sudden amused perception of the situation. 
“ January twentieth, and I’ve been at Sairy Mary 
ever since to take a tower, but a tower she won’t 
take. Not that she says she won’t. She finds 
hindrances in the way.” Moses balanced his derby 
on his knee and thrust his hands into his pockets. 

I no more than do away with one hindrance than 
she hatches up another.” Mr. Carter chuckled at 
his spouse’s tactics and his derby slid to the floor. 
“ But at last I got ’er cornered.” Here he ceased 
to chuckle and looked hard at Winifred. That’s 
what I’ve come to see you about. You’ve got a 
heap of sense. I found that out last year.” 

Winifred smiled, recalling sundry ways in which 

15 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


she was of assistance while Mr. Carter was wooing 
Mrs. Sarah Mary Betts, who for the love of cooking 
had deserted the house which she owned on the 
Green Valley Road to become the chapter house 
cook and the friend of every girl in it, especially 
of Winifred. 

Sairy Mary can't be beat, as Fve said," 
reiterated Mr. Carter, but in this one thing she 
ain’t properly considering my rights." He turned 
deep-set, twinkling eyes on Winifred. She’s had 
one wedding tower, and says that’s enough for her. 
I hain’t had a chance to have one before last 
January ! " 

Winifred’s eyes danced. Mr. Carter paused to 
chuckle, and then both laughed until the tears 
came. This unity in sympathy caused Mr. Carter 
to wax more confidential. Hitching his chair 
nearer his hostess, he lowered his voice. 

Betts was as close as the hide on a horse." He 
thus candidly epitomized the character of his wife’s 
first husband. “ I’ll bet my old hat when he took 
Sairy Mary on a tower there wa’n’t much spent. 
And where do you think he took ’er ? " 

Winifred wiped her eyes. She never told 
me." 

All the way to Rochester I ’’ There was con- 
centrated scorn in Mr. Carter’s voice. Only to 
Rochester I Now, I’m bound t’ take ’er to New 

i6 


^^DOCTOR X. r. Z.’’ 


York and spend regardless. Queer if I can^t git 
ahead of Betts ! ” 

“ When are you going? asked Winifred. 

Mr. Carter picked up his derby and pursed out 
his lips. The perplexed expression reappeared. 
“ Now, there comes the hindrance! She says she 
wonT leave the house to go at sixes and sevens, 
with her plants gettin^ chilled and the pipes 
freezin^ up and I thought of you. Sairy sets a 
great store by you, and you^re used to managin^ a 
house, I take it. You manage this one and keep 
the expense account and oversee things and do it 
all right. Why, even Sairy Mary approves. So 
why not say you’ll come and look after ours while 
we go t’ New York? I’ll make it worth your 
while.” 

Winifred leaned forward impulsively, her face 
full of regret. “ Oh, Mr. Carter, I should like to 
— and I would — indeed, I would, but you see my 
duty as house stewardess keeps me here. I could 
not be spared because it’s an every-day duty. I 
am, oh, so sorry 1 Can’t you get some one else ? ” 

Mr. Carter arose reluctantly. He shook his 
head. Sairy Mary is sot,” was the only answer 
he made as he took his departure gloomily, his 
hope of outshining the late Mr. Betts having gone 
into temporary eclipse. 

I do wish I could do that much for him,” 

17 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


Winifred sighed going back to her room. “ A 
refusal is a poor return for all he did for the 
college last year through us, but I can^t be in two 
places at once, and my duty is here.^^ 

Her pen had covered only three pages more of 
the note-book before Louise Wallace Grey arrived. 
Standing in the doorway, Louise surveyed her in 
feigned melancholy. Then rolling her big dark 
eyes dramatically heavenward she chanted. 

The student lives a care-free life 
But never so the care-ful wife.’^ 

To Cousin Anne Sweet’s distress Louise had not 
“ settled down.” Louisy was born light headed,” 
Mrs. Sweet declared emphatically. ‘‘ College didn’t 
take it out of ’er, nor teachin’, nor yet marryin’, 
and now I misdoubt if she ever gits rid of it.” 

Removing a handsome coat, Louise threw it 
over a chair wrong side out. Just to exhibit its 
lining,” she informed her hostess. ‘‘ I always 
dispose of it in that careless fashion, and, when I 
can’t take it off, I unbutton it and throw it open. 
I nearly melted with it on this hot day, but I was 
bound you should see it.” 

Winifred drew up a low stool and sat where she 
could rub her cheek against the satin lining. 

It’s a beauty. I suppose Ashley gave it to 3^ou.” 

Louise nodded and seated herself on a corner of 

i8 


^^DOCTOR X. r. Z.’’ 


the table. “ Yes, it was a complete surprise. First 
he had me give him all my measurements over 
twice. Then he kept bursting out with what the 
tailor said and didn't say on subjects unrelated to 
coats. Then he asked me with elaborate indiffer- 
ence whether I liked the lining of coats the same 
color as the exterior or a pale shade. So you can 
see that I was all prepared to act the part of a sur- 
prised and delighted wife — and there was no mis- 
take about the delight, either." Louise gazed with 
admiration at the coat. 

At that instant Lillian's voice, sweet and high 
pitched, disturbed the studious quiet of the hall. 

A subpoena ? It's something that nobody ever 
wants to meet — I know that much about it ! What 
does she want me to appear for ? " 

Then Rebecca Bicknell's tones, It might be 
well for you to ask the one who knows and not in- 
terrupt me again with these notes, or I'll not know 
Hans Anderson from Grimm's Fairy Tales." 

“ Perhaps you won't anyway ! " retorted Lillian 
as she tapped on Winifred's door and immediately 
entered, fresh and breezy as the late September 
day, her cheeks pink with exercise, and her dark 
eyes bright with an exuberance of spirits ready to 
overflow on any project proposed, and Louise was 
ready to furnish the project. 

Now, children," she began impressively, sit 

19 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


down, please, and listen to a few words of wisdom 
and a trustee secret from a trustee’s wife.” 

At the word secret ” Lillian fairly smacked her 
lips. She doted on secrets. She was capable of 
receiving an unlimited number. The keeping of 
them was another story ! Therefore, Winifred 
glanced at her in smiling apprehension. But be- 
fore Louise had progressed far, it became apparent 
that Lillian was the very one who ought to be en- 
trusted with the movements of the college trustees, 
of whom Ashley Grey was the youngest and most 
enthusiastic. 

“ I have gathered from former conversations,” 
Louise began whimsically to Lillian, that you 
spent the summer at Boothbay Harbor in the same 
hotel with one Mrs. Gregg? ” 

Lillian merely giggled, as she had talked of but 
little else since college opened. 

I presume that you knew that Mrs. Gregg is 

not unknown to fame ” 

Lillian sat up indignantly. Why, Louise Wal- 
lace, she isn’t I She’s just as nice as she can be I ” 
Melancholy fact ! ” insisted Louise. She’s 
guilty of essays and personal investigations into 
sundry and divers things that don’t invite investi- 
gation, but — and here’s the point of interest to 
Huntingdon Gollege ” — Louise raised an impress- 
ive finger — she’s also guilty of possessing a son 
20 


^^DOCTOR X. r. 


who’s on the road to fame and — the trustees wish 
— to Huntingdon I ” 

Oh ! ” ejaculated Lillian. Billy ? Can it be 
Billy ? She often spoke of him, but I supposed he 
was only a boy in school.” 

Louise threw her head back and laughed, a jolly, 
infectious laugh. “ He is in school, but not ex- 
actly in the knee pants stage of learning. He’s a 
graduate of Harvard and John Hopkins and is 
now in Germany taking another degree at Got- 
tingen University. He is an A. M. and Ph. D. 
and B. S. and X. Y. Z. ! Having achieved the 
greater part of the alphabet, he’ll be ready to take 
a position in January or February, and Hunting- 
don wants him. But Bainbridge also desires his 
society, and Bainbridge is larger — numerically 
only, of course — than we are and much older.” 

Bainbridge I ” Lillian’s tone was scornful. 

That’s only a man’s college.” Then in an im- 
mediate connection, “ Is Billy a married man?” 

Louise choked and Winifred leaned against the 
new coat weakly. 

‘‘ He is not,” Louise replied finally. He has 
yet, I understand, rather large sections of youth at 
his disposal. Still, one might choose a mere man’s 
college even in the unmarried state, and that’s 
what the trustees more than half think Dr. X. Y. 
Z. will do.” 


21 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


Bai abridge was Huntingdon's nearest collegiate 
neighbor, and being wholly masculine in the com- 
position of its student body, affected to look down 
on Huntingdon. 

“You see,^' Louise went on, “ as Ashley says, our 
faculty contains good men and faithful workers, 
but we haven't a single member who has attained 
a national reputation. Now Dr. Gregg bids fair to 
have no end of a reputation in a few years — has 
one now, in fact. We have that magnificent 
science building equipped with the best of labora- 
tories, but with no great men to use them. Dr. 
William Gregg would be very becoming to that 
building as the head of the biological depart- 
ment." 

Louise had arisen as she spoke, and was looking 
through the window at the new Stearns Science 
Hall which stood on the brow of the hill between 
the Hall of Languages and the Auditorium. 

Lillian was staring fixedly at Louise. “ Is it 
possible," she murmured, “ that Mrs. Gregg is the 
mother of so much learning 1 And that we want 
that learning here ? Perhaps that's why she took 
such an interest in Huntingdon, and " 

“ Did she, Lillian ? " Louise interrupted eagerly. 
“ Then, perhaps, my plan is perfectly feasible. 
Now tell me just how much interest she took? 
What did she ask ? What did you tell her ? " 

22 


^^DOCTOR X, r. Z/’ 


It was twelve o’clock before Louise drew on the 
coat with the handsome lining, and, with it, as- 
sumed her usual humorous manner. 

But what have I to do with the likes of these 
things ? Your humble friend’s place is now among 
the pots and kettles of the kitchen drivin’ Ashley 
to drink, but here’s to you,” with a flourish as she 
put an imaginary glass to her lips and turned 
toward Lillian. May our scheme prosper, and 
your letter bring a speedy and satisfactory answer.” 

The scheme proposed was simplicity itself. It 
consisted of an exceedingly cordial invitation 
urging Mrs. Cregg to become Lillian’s guest at the 
Alpha Gamma Chapter House. 

“ The longer I think about it,” Lillian decided, 
the more certain I am that she will come. Now, 
in the light of Louise’s statements, I believe that 
she hinted for an invitation to come and look us 
over for her son — that is, look the college over, I 
mean.^’ 

It was with the idea of influencing the son 
through the mother that Louise had advanced her 
idea. 

Of course,” were Mrs. Grey’s parting words, 
'^if it’s necessary to take others into your confi- 
dence, do so, but don’t let ’em talk. The trustees 
don’t want the matter proclaimed from the house- 
tops.” 


23 


CHAPTER II 


A WELL KEPT SECRET 

With a swelling hum of voices, and a thunder 
of feet, the students of Huntingdon College poured 
out of the Auditorium where chapel exercises were 
held, down the broad granite steps and along the 
walk which led to the Hall of Languages. The 
young men, whose chapel seats were nearest the 
exit, reached the campus first. 

It was the first day of October. The crisp air, 
the golden sun, the brilliant foliage in the great 
overhanging maples, caused the multitude of feet 
crossing the campus to proceed unwillingly toward 
the confinement of the lecture rooms yawning to 
receive them. Suddenly the first tenor of the glee 
club, midway in the procession, raised his powerful 
voice in the favorite college refrain : 

“ Oh, Huntingdon, for thee, 

May thy sons be leal and loyal. 

To thy memory.’’ 

Instantly his voice was reinforced by hundreds 
of others. Far down the avenues, which ran at 

24 


A WELL KEPT SECRET 


right angles to the campus, the householders ap- 
peared on their piazzas to catch this open air con- 
cert from the Hill. 

Down the steps of the Auditorium and out on 
the wide paved terrace swarmed the young women 
joining in the song. In their wake was Winifred 
Lowe, her yellow hair nearly concealed by a blue 
velvet turban a year old. A year behind the time, 
also, was her long plain blue coat. But there was 
no stamp of antiquity on her fair alert face with 
its deep womanly eyes sparkling now with enthu- 
siasm, and its girlishly rounded chin and red lips. 

“ Where are the rest of the Alpha Gamma seniors, 
Winifred ? inquired a voice at her ear. 

Winifred turned with a start and smiled up at 
M. Gussie Barker. “ Down at the chapter house 
doing some eleventh hour studying, I suspect.’^ 

M. Gussie turned aside and adjusted her hat by 
using the glass upper of a door for a mirror. 

Winifred, IVe not had a really satisfying talk 
with you since college opened — not a real ' heart ' 
talk as they say in the household papers.^^ She 
chuckled and, stepping back, viewed her hat com- 
placently. Do you get the full effect of my head 
covering ? This isn't so bad for Texas ' down by 
the Rio Grande,' is it ? " 

Winifred viewed the hat critically. M. Gussie's 
handsome face was always becomingly framed. 

25 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


Her advanced ideas of living never were al- 
lowed to interfere with present ideas in the line 
of dress. 

“ It’s a lovely hat,” was Winifred’s verdict. 

Why didn’t you answer the letter I wrote you in 
July, and tell me of life on the Rio Grande? ” 

M. Gussie looked down good-naturedly on the 
shorter girl. Hadn’t time,” she returned lacon- 
ically. I was too busy learning to rope a steer 
and shoot from the saddle.” 

“ Gussie Barker, you didn’t ! ” cried Winifred 
wide eyed. 

M. Gussie and her mother had spent part of the 
summer on a great Texas ranch. 

“ Fact ! ” declared M. Gussie with a satisfied 
smile into the other’s amazed face. “ Lots of fun. 
I can handle a gun like a ranger. At least the 
cowboys were good enough to say that to my face. 
What they said when my back was turned I have 
no means of knowing. When you find time, 
Winifred, come down and see my guns. I have 
two here and I can use ’em both in the back yard 
for your benefit. Don’t bring along any dimes for 
me to shoot a hole through — I’ve not got beyond 
dollar piercing yet.” 

Suddenly, a very round girl with a very round 
face flushed with exertion, having struggled across 
the terrace and up the steps, thrust a round arm 
26 


A WELL KEPT SECRET 


between two singers and unceremoniously jerked 
the long blue coat. 

I can’t get any nearer, Winifred,” the owner 
of the plumpness gasped, “ but the rest of the 
seniors want you down at the chapter house. They 
won’t tell, but say you’ll understand if I tell you 
the postman’s been there.” 

Winifred understood. So did the rest of the 
Alpha Gamma seniors. Lillian, acting promptly 
on Louise Grey’s permission, had informed each 
one before the ink on the invitation to Mrs. Cregg 
was dry. Each she had bound to secrecy, and it 
was only because of Winifred’s protests that the 
juniors were not made to understand. 

As Flossie Rogers drifted in the human current 
helplessly toward the Hall of Languages, Winifred 
took an eager step forward and surveyed the throng 
below. “ I’ll have to wait,” she muttered. 

If you want to get through this jam,” said 
M. Gussie confidently, “just follow me. I never 
saw a crowd yet I couldn’t cut in two by a proper 
use of my elbows I ” She protruded these capable 
members aggressively. “ I’ve lived in crowds, 
you know, all my life. Mother can manage ’em 
from the front, but I always have to^et her through 
’em.” 

Being a daughter of an Omaha suffragette 
lecturer, M. Gussie knew whereof she spoke. 

27 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


Winifred shook her head. 1^11 go around by 
the rear entrance. I’ll see you again at eleven. 
Good-bye.” 

Through the long hall she hurried. The post- 
man must have brought good news else the girls 
would not have sent for her. Running down the 
back steps she came around the building, and, avoid- 
ing the crowded terrace and walks, started out cross- 
campus for College Road, and the Alpha Gamma 
Chapter House which faced the Auditorium. 
Although in a “ towering hurry” to hear the news, 
she walked with the dignity befitting her seniority 
until she closed the chapter house door behind her. 
Then her dignity was deposited with her coat on 
the hall rack, and she fled up the stairs precipitately 
and along the hall guided by a medley of voices to 
the room of the Twisters.” 

As she opened the door, Erma Cunningham, 
who sat on the floor in front of the hot air register, 
waved both hands over her head. Hear ye ! 
Hear ye I ” she vociferated, X. Y. Z.’s mamma is 
coming next week 1 ” 

Honestly, girls ? ” 

Five seniors nodded violently at the sixth. 

Then, from her seat on the couch, Lillian 
Antwerp waved an open letter triumphantly. 

Listen ! She’s still at Boothbay Harbor, and 
this is what she says : 


28 


A WELL KEPT SECRET 


^ Dear Lillian : 

“ ‘ Your letter of invitation was a welcome 
caller yesterday. 141 gladly spend a few days next 
week at your chapter home with you and the 
girls you love. I feel as though I were well ac- 
quainted with each one. I am ready to leave 
this restful spot, and was just wondering whether 
to go abroad and meet my son or go to New 
York and await him. Your letter decided me. 
I want to go to you and share your every-day life 
and get back a bit of my youth among so many girls. 
I am looking forward, also, to meeting “ Mose ” 
and/‘ Sairy Mary and seeing the wonderful “ Two- 
Faced House.” I little thought when you were 
describing them that I should see them all so soon. 
I shall write you within a few days the date of my 
arrival and the road on which I shall arrive. I 
understand there are three by which I may enter 
your college city. 

“ ^ Most cordially, 

^ Amelia Gregg.’ ” 

Lillian, with flushed cheeks and bright eyes, gal- 
loped through the letter in one breath. Now she 
ended in an exhausted voice, Girls, she’s the 
loveliest thing that ever lived — with white hair and 
no airs. And she was simply wild over my de- 
scription of the Two-Faced House and Sairy Mary 
and Mr. Carter. She said that if she wrote Action, 
which she’s never guilty of, she’d travel across the 
continent just to get into that house and meet the 
29 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


^ Captain of the Farming Industry.’ She said that 
Sairy Mary was the richest character she ever 
heard of.” Lillian’s voice gave out. She drew a 
long breath. 

The other seniors charitably refrained from tell- 
ing her that they had heard her mention those 
facts daily since college opened, but as she again 
launched into further familiar reminiscence, Re- 
becca Bicknell, her roommate, heartlessly clapped 
a hand over her lips. 

“ Practice breathing exercises a while, Lill, and 
give the rest of us a chance. Where are we going 
to put her up? ” 

‘‘Right in this room,” declared Belle Eaton. 

“ De-lighted to know it ! ” Clara Pike emerged 
with a jerk from the obscurity of the couch where 
she had been lounging behind Lillian and Rebecca. 
“ I guess the present occupants thereof will have 
something to say about that.” Clara spoke feel- 
ingly, being one of the Twister inhabitants of the 
room. 

“ And we’ll fix it up with all our best things,” 
Belle went on without deigning to glance at the 
speaker. “ I’ll put my white satin sofa pillow in 
here,” magnanimously, “ and ” 

Clara sank back on the couch with a giggle. 
“ In that case, we’ll give up the room willingly, 
for the ‘ hand painting ’ on that pillow would give 
30 


A WELL KEPT SECRET 


any one fits except an absent-minded genius who 
takes no notice of ordinary things.” 

“ Sour grapes,” Belle flung at the couch. That 
pillow is not ordinary. It's a beauty, if I ‘ do say 
it as shouldn't ! ' ” 

The quotation caused Lillian to break forth 
again. “ We must tell Mr. Carter right away how 
ardently Mrs. Cregg longs to meet him and his 
wife. I do hope that he will tell her all about his 
four hundred acres and seven hired men and 
blooded stock bought ‘ regardless.' ” 

Don't you worry,” advised Rebecca. No 
power on earth could prevent his telling her ! 
Moses isn't readily awed. The Queen of Sheba 
would make only a passing impression on him.” 

But I know that our dear ex-cook's cook- 
ery will make more than a passing impression on 
William's mamma,” affirmed Belle Eaton, smack- 
ing her lips. Let's ask her to make pumpkin 
pies and cottage cheese. I never tasted any half 
so good from any other hand.” 

Winifred, your mouth has been slightly ajar 
for ten minutes ! ” exclaimed Rebecca Bicknell. 

What does it want a chance to say ? ” 

Five pairs of eyes turned expectantly on Wini- 
fred Lowe. It was a habit which the five pairs 
had long since contracted. 

‘‘ If my mouth was open, please excuse it,” 
31 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


laughed Winifred. It has wanted to say that it^s 
time we telephoned to Louise Grey.” 

“ I move that Miss Lowe resolve herself into a 
committee of one to do the telephoning,” suggested 
Clara. She looks so uncomfortable balanced on 
the edge of that window-seat that I want to see 
her removed.” 

Winifred removed herself and went below. 
Five minutes later she returned. 

Louise has left a cake burning in the oven,” 
the messenger reported, ‘‘at least, she’s sure it’s 
burning, to call up Mr. Grey. She’s jubilant over 
Mrs. Cregg. She says, also, that Mr. Grey has told 
the chancellor what we are doing, and that he 
heartily approves. And she wants us to report 
progress to him now ourselves.” 

Lillian scrambled off the couch and handed 
her the letter. “Come oh, then, this minute, 
and you do the talking. The chancellor doesn’t 
know me from Mrs. Adam and Eve, but he 
knows you from your father down ! And, any- 
way, when you speak people have fallen into the 
habit of listening. Habits,” with a sigh, “ are 
such easy things to cultivate — much easier than 
brains ! ” 

“ I just wish,” the care-free Lillian had ex- 
claimed energetically that very morning, “that I 
had been obliged to take care of myself ever since 
32 


A WELL KEPT SECRET 


I was sixteen, and then I’d have as much inside 
my head as Winifred Lowe has ! ” 

Whereat Rebecca Bicknell had surveyed her 
roommate from the small pointed shoe to the 
saucy white wing on a saucily tilted white felt hat, 
and responded scathingly, ‘‘ Possibly mental ca- 
pacity may have played some part in Winifred’s 
career.” 

Rebecca was inspired to sarcasm only on her 
blue ” days. Such periods invariably followed a 
lack of self-denial in the consumption of choco- 
lates. Therefore, Lillian had left the room with- 
out making a direct reply, but when at last she 
had departed for an obnoxious eight o’clock lec- 
ture on the Hill her reply was pinned on Rebecca’s 
door in the form of a notice which read : 

“ Don’t stir up the animal in this den. It’s bil- 
ious again.” 

As the senior conclave was breaking up Rebecca 
offered a suggestion. Hold on a moment, girls. 
We ought to tell some of our alumnse. They’ll 
have to help us entertain Mrs. Gregg.” 

“ We mustn’t leave anything undone that will 
impress her,” responded Lillian from the doorway. 
Let’s tell Mrs. Willow right away.” 

I haven’t anything on the Hill this morning,” 
Erma volunteered. I’ll go down to Mrs. Wil- 
low’s.” 


33 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


Girls/’ began Winifred hesitatingly, have we 
any right to tell ” 

“ Make ’er promise not to talk,” interrupted Lil- 
lian. Tell her that the X. Y. Z. part is a dead 
secret. Didn’t Louise herself tell us we could tell 
where we deemed it necessary ? ” turning on Wini- 
fred with an air of triumph. “ And I think it’s 
necessary for Mrs. Willow — and perhaps Mrs. 
Bois — to know how important the visit is because 
they have the handsomest homes and do the most 
entertaining, and we don’t want to leave any stone 
unturned in the matter of impressing Mrs. Cregg. 
Huntingdon must be shown off well socially. Of 
course it’s necessary to confide in the alumnse — a 
limited number, that is. We needn’t tell another 
student about her — or rather about her son — not 
even an Alpha Gamma.” 

The other seniors enthusiastically agreeing with 
Lillian, Winifred’s judgment was overruled, and 
Erma set out on her mission of information. 

A few moments later, as Winifred and Lillian 
were leaving the house, the Twisters hung over 
the stair railing and looked below. These room- 
mates resembled each other in medium height and 
medium breadth and dispositions not medium. It 
was their outward resemblance which gave rise to 
their first nickname, the Twin Sisters. It was 
their joint tendency to keep the second floor of the 
34 


A WELL KEPT SECRET 


chapter house stirred up which led to the adapta- 
tion of the nickname to their deeds, and they be- 
came known in the bosom of their sorority as the 
Sin Twisters, or Twisters for short. 

“ Look at Lillian, scoffed Erma Cunningham. 

The pride is oozing out of every pore. Better 
practice acting modest on your way to the office.’’ 

Better tell yourself at every step, ‘ There’s 
many a slip ’twixt the cup and the lip,’ ” advised 
Clara Pike. 

Lillian turned at the door and looked at the ad- 
visory board hanging now so far over the rail as to 
resemble inverted figures, their faces congested by 
reason of their unnatural reversal. 

I rather guess,” Lillian exclaimed trium- 
phantly, “ that if you were intimately acquainted 
with such an important personage, your pride 
would exude ! ” 

She prudently closed the outer door on her re- 
mark in order to be secure in the last word. 
Then, tucking her hand under Winifred’s arm, she 
squeezed it lovingly. 

“ I’m so excited I can scarcely wait till we reach 
him,” she ejaculated. Excitement was Lillian’s 
natural state. 

'' It will be a feather in Alpha Gamma’s cap,” 
declared Winifred proudly, “ as well as in yours to 
entertain Dr. Cregg’s mother.” 

35 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


Lillian drew a long ecstatic breath indicative of 
the fact that she was in love with life in general. 

Aren’t things going beautifully with us this 
year, Freda ? ” She looked back at the chapter 
house. 

Indeed they are,” returned Winifred with em- 
phasis. She gazed about her with an affectionate 
glance which included the gray stone buildings on 
the summit of the hill, the long lines of trees with 
their autumn tints, and the stretch of campus, 
gray green under the October sun. 

Things are going beautifully for me as well 
as ‘ us,’ ” she went on. “ With the work of 
house stewardess paying my living expenses, 
and two hours a day in the chancellor’s of- 
fice giving me spending money — why. I’m rich, 
Lillian ! ” 

“ And I too,” assented Lillian earnestly, now 
that papa isn’t in a financial panic this year.” 

Winifred stopped, choking with laughter, in 
which Lillian immediately joined merely because 
it was easier to laugh than to remain solemn, al- 
though she could see nothing very mirth-provok- 
ing in her statement. 

Two young men awaited them on the steps of 
the Hall of Languages, Landon Stearns and Joseph 
Amherst Pierce, the latter, as usual, straight and 
seemingly unbendable in his dignity. Concerning 
36 


A WELL KEPT SECRET 


him, however, as Clara Pike often quoted sagely, 

‘ Appearances are deceitful/ 

As the girls approached, Landon threw open the 
heavy vestibule door, exclaiming teasingly, If 
you girls knew how important you looked you’d 
stop and tell a fellow what you’re up to.” 

His glance directed his remark at Winifred, but 
it was Lillian who retorted : 

“ We’re up to something great ! You’ll know in 
time, but at present it’s a dead secret.” 

Dead and buried among twenty-seven girls, I 
suppose,” rejoined Landon ungallantly. 

“ Resurrect it for us,” urged Joseph Amherst. 

We can keep a secret.” 

“ Wait until it’s yours to keep ! ” retorted Wini- 
fred. 

The long halls were nearly deserted. A stray 
student, late in arriving, hurried along, paused 
before a lecture room door a shrinking moment or 
two, opened it softly and slipped through, allow- 
ing a brief hum of voices to break the silence of 
the halls. The doors of the public office stood 
open. The registrar was bending his “molasses 
candy ” colored hair over an immense ledger as he 
dictated to a stenographer behind him. At the 
next door, which was closed, the girls paused, 
collected themselves and tapped lightly. 

As a familiar and beloved voice bade them enter, 
37 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


Lillian again drew a long, agitated breath and 
whispered, Oh, Winifred, suppose we should be 
the means of getting Billy here by way of his 

mother ! Wouldn’t the chancellor ” 

But Winifred, swinging wide the door, cut off 
the whisper. 


38 


CHAPTER III 


“ A WATCHED POT 

They found the chancellor sitting behind his 
desk dictating letters, one of which was addressed 
to Dr. Cregg. The two girls sat down in front of 
the desk, Winifred quiet, Lillian in a breathless 
agitation attendant on the greatness of the cause 
she represented. 

Finally, the chancellor took off his eye-glasses, 
saddled them across the forefinger of his right 
hand, ran the fingers of his free hand through 
the hair behind his ears, and swung his chair 
about with a smile. His smile won every student 
on whom it shone, so full was it of fatherly interest 
and a genuine love for youth. He knew but a few 
of his hundreds of students by name, Winifred 
Lowe being among the few. 

Well, young ladies, what can I do for you?” 
he asked cordially. 

He looked at Winifred with a paternal affection as 
he spoke. She was the daughter of an old college- 
mate, and, in the chancellor, she had a friend who 
had made her college course possible. 

We came to tell you,” Winifred began, that 
39 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


Miss Antwerp received a letter from Mrs. Cregg 
this morning. Mr. Grey told you 

The chancellor leaned alertly across his desk, 
swinging his eye-glasses vigorously. Indeed I 
have not forgotten ! ” he interrupted. “ What is 
the result?’^ 

Lillian raised her head as high as the abbrevi- 
ated length of her neck permitted and answered 
hastily, forgetting that she had intended to be 
silent. She’s coming next week. And, Chan- 
cellor Haight, we had the loveliest times together 
last summer ! She didn’t act as though she knew 
a bit more than I do. I’m so glad I didn’t know 
then that she is the mother of such quantities of 
learning and a writer herself, for I should never 
have dared to fall in love with her ! ” 

The chancellor laughed. I’m glad you were 
ignorant in that case. I am mightily interested in 
this. If she is planning to visit you, it may 
mean ” 

He paused and pursed his lips thoughtfully. 

The Greys,” Winifred said, seemed to think 
that if we got the mother here and she liked the 
college it might influence the son.” 

The chancellor nodded emphatically, She is 
closely associated with him in his work. Getting 
the mother here — and pleasing her — is a long step 
in the direction of bringing the son.” 

40 


WATCHED POT^^ 


At the close of the interview, the chancellor 
arose and shook hands heartily with his callers. 

I'm proud to be at the head of an institution 
made by its students," he said with a thrill of 
gratitude in his voice. Girls, you may have it 
in your power, through the mother, to do as much 
as the trustees toward securing the services of Dr. 
Gregg." 

“ But how do you advise us to — to act with 
her ? " asked Lillian in trepidation. 

The chancellor, looking smilingly at the girlish 
flushed face with its wide anxious blue eyes, 
inquired, How did you ‘ act with her ' at Booth- 
bay Harbor, child ? " 

'' But there," insisted Lillian, I didn't really 
know who she was and so I acted — why, just like 
myself." 

Keep on acting exactly that way — all of you," 
was the chancellor's parting advice. “ And let me 
know, please, when she is to come. I should like 
to meet her early in her visit." 

Isn't he lovely ? " asked Lillian enthusiastically 
as the messengers went down the hill again. “ It's 
such a pleasure to do things for him, because he 
makes you think that you've done so much and 
must never stop doing." This was, in a nutshell, 
the secret of the chancellor's success in Hunting- 
don. 


41 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


Erma Cunningham did not render an account 
of her trip to Mrs. Willow^s until luncheon time. | 
Lillian, who, in her capacity as senior, presided at 
the head of one of the long tables in the dining- 
room, sat where she could command a view of the 
hall, and the instant that the opening door revealed 
the delegate to the alumnae, she called : 

Never mind your duds, Erma. Come right in 
and report.’^ 

The opinion of the Alpha Gamma alumnae was 
of paramount importance to the girls on all oc- 
casions. 

You needn’t tell me,” remarked Flossie Rogers 
fixinga sharp eye on Rebecca Bicknell, “ that there’s 
not something else in the wind beside a plain, 
simple visit from this Mrs. What’s-’er-Name.” 

Rebecca allowed one eyelid to droop in Flossie’s 
direction, although her reply was severe : “ Don’t 
worry I We have no intention of telling you I ” 

Whatever it is,” declared Flossie, “ will leak 
out inside of twenty-four hours. Seniors, I notice, 
are uncommonly human.” 

Those not in the secret of the college’s nego- 
tiations with Dr. Cregg had been informed, natu- 
rally, by Winifred, mysteriously, by Lillian, that 
Alpha Gamma would shortly have the honor of 
entertaining Mrs. Cregg, herself a writer and the 
mother of an original investigator, although what 
42 


WATCHED POT^* 


he was investigating was beyond the knowledge of 
the informants. 

Erma had turned aside into the library, tossed her 
“duds’^ on the window-seat and then entered the 

dining-room saying, Mrs. Willow said Oh, 

how hungry this sharp air does make one ! ” With- 
out pausing between the two sections of her speech 
the famished delegate dropped into her chair at 
the right of Mrs. Munroe, the house mother, who 
presided over the second table, and eagerly laid 
hold of her soup spoon. 

She said what ? exploded Clara Pike. 

Just what I shall relate when this soup is no 
more I Pm chilled to the bone.^^ 

I have heard of people being chilled through the 
bone ! suggested Lillian darkly. Please report 
progress at once.^’ 

I left Mrs. Willow telephoning to Mrs. Bois.^^ 

‘‘ Good ! cried the excitable Lillian. That 
shows she was properly stirred up.^^ 

Erma nodded over her soup. She was stirred 
up enough to suit even you, Lillian. She is vastly 
pleased over the prospect of our entertaining Mrs. 
Cregg.^^ Here the seniors glanced at each other 
mysteriously. She and Mrs. Bois are coming up 
Saturday morning to talk the matter over with us 
— us seniors, that is,’^ with a wilting glance at 
Flossie Rogers who sat next and was only a junior. 

43 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


Mrs. Willow and Mrs. Bois were social leaders 
in the city. 

“ When Mrs. Willow called up Mrs. Bois/^ con- 
tinued Erma, she told her that one of them must 
open her house if the alumnae decided to give any 
big affairs, because the first floor of the chapter 
house is not arranged well for extensive entertain- 
ing.^^ 

“The house trustees keep saying and saying that 
they’re going to remodel this floor,” grumbled 
Rebecca, “ and yet we come back each year to the 
same narrow hall and side parlors ” 

“ We’ll be alumnae ourselves in eight months,” 
Winifred reminded her with a sly smile, “ and 
then, of course, everything will be done in order 
and on time.” 

Rebecca gave a short laugh and subsided. 

The next few days were trying ones for the post- 
man whose beat was the Hill. He was beset on 
every hand by Alpha Gammas. He was hailed 
far down Fourth Avenue by the query, “ Is there 
a letter for Miss Antwerp from Boothbay Harbor ? ” 
A similar inquiry stopped him in the halls of 
learning. The essence of the question floated to 
him when he was crossing the campus, while, 
when he opened the door of the Alpha Gamma 
Chapter House, the question was fairly hurled at 
him from library, parlor and stairs. 

44 


WATCHED POT*' 


The question with which the seniors harried the 
postman met them three times a day and between 
times from the mild, sweet- faced house mother. 

“Has the letter come?'' became her regular 
greeting at meal time despite the fact that its non- 
appearance was the most obvious event in the 
chapter house. 

“ No, Mrs. Munroe, it has not," Lillian made 
answer on Friday morning, “ and if it doesn't 
come to-day, I shall have nervous prostration." 
Her tone was convincing. 

“ If you could only enjoy said state yourself 
without conferring it on every one around you I 
should be thankful," grumbled Rebecca Bicknell. 
“ You're not content to talk about Mrs. Cregg 
all day — you talk about her in your sleep all 
night." 

Lillian tossed her head and wrinkled her little 
nose. “ You ought to deem it a privilege to room 
with some one who is intimately acquainted with 

the mother of X. Y. " Here the speaker gasped 

and clapped her hand guiltily over her mouth. 

“ Yes," jeered Flossie Rogers, “ you almost gave 
it away that time — whatever there is to give 
away ! " 

Pointedly ignoring Flossie, Lillian turned to 
Winifred with the query, “ Going to chapel this 
morning? " 


45 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


Yes, and I must go this minute and get ready, 
answered Winifred hastily, running up the stairs. 

She had just taken her hat from its place on the 
clothes-press shelf, when a familiar voice at the 
door declaimed dramatically : 

“ To chapel I shall go 
Along with Winifred Lowe ! ” 

Winifred, her hat in her hand, opened her door, 
admitting not only Louise Grey, but Lillian 
Antwerp and Rebecca Bicknell, who rushed across 
the hall at the sound of the newcomer’s jingling 
rhyme. 

I know what you’ve come for,” cried Lillian. 
“ No, we have no letter yet ; I’m looking for it 
every minute.” 

She’s telling the literal truth,” sighed Rebecca. 

Louise leaned against the closed door and thrust 
her hands mannishly into the pockets of her coat. 
“Seems to me that it’s Mrs. Gregg’s duty to drop you 
a picture postal at least,” she observed banteringly. 
Then, in the same tone she fixed the attention of 
her audience on another subject. “ As long as 
you are already wise beyond your years, young 
ladies. I’ll add to your wisdom another cubit. 
Yesterday morning my brilliant husband had an 
idea worthy of him. He allowed me to carry it 
out because I am better acquainted with its 
46 


WATCHED POT'* 


victim I Hence and therefore, I called up Landon 
Stearns and broke to him gently the knowledge of 
the trustees^ efforts to engage our unseen friend in 
Gottingen. And I told him that as long as his 
father had done so little for the college it might 
delight him to do a little more ! The senior 
Stearns had built and equipped the Stearns Hall 
of Science. “ Then I mentioned the fact that if 
we secured the services of the learned X. Y. Z. 
that more equipment would be needed and as he 
is conducting original investigations, etc., and all 
that, much equipment would be the order of the 
day presumably.^^ 

“ And the result ? asked Winifred seeking to 
penetrate her hairpins with the point of the hat 
pin. 

Louise swept off her own hat in an awkward 
but sincere bow in imitation of Landon. Emi- 
nently satisfactory. Landon says he commu- 
nicated with his sire yesterday noon and his sire 
tells him we may promise — or the trustees may — 
I forget I was not personally elected to that office 
— that the trustees may promise anything in 
reason to the before mentioned learned gentle- 
man.^^ 

That^s exactly like the Stearnses ! ” exclaimed 
Rebecca energetically. “ I presume that yesterday 
noon between soup and roast beef, Landon hap- 
47 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


pened to think of your request and just said off- 
hand, ^ Oh, excuse me, fellows,^ and went to the 
'phone and called up his dad, long distance, at one 
dollar a minute. And I presume Stearns senior 
stopped signing checks long enough to half listen 
and say, * Tell 'em anything you want to, sonny,' 
and there is the result ! " 

“ Well, I don't like the result ! " Lillian burst 
out impetuously. I want us to be the means of 
getting Dr. Gregg here all ourselves ! " 

Rebecca patted her head soothingly. We shall 
be obliged, Lill, to overlook some little assistance 
from other quarters, probably, but let's do it in a 
forgiving spirit." 

‘‘What's Dr. Gregg investigating?" asked 
Winifred. 

“ Milk," Louise replied. “ He's at work on it 
now and will continue — here, we hope." 

“ If only he would turn his learned attention to 
manufacturing cheese, he'd benefit mankind," 
from Rebecca, who was a lover of cheese. 

Louise adjusted her hat. “ The work he is doing 
will affect cheese and butter and babies. He’s 
perfecting a new way of analyzing milk and deter- 
mining how many bacteria are present in a single 
drop." 

“ Will he keep a cow in the laboratory ? " asked 
Lillian innocently. 


48 


WATCHED POT'^ 


No,’^ choked Louise, but he’ll require a few 
outside — if he comes.” 

The girls went down-stairs laughing, and at the 
foot, Winifred, who was in advance, fell eagerly on 
a little pile of letters which the postman had just 
left on the round table beside the door — the mail 
table ” it was called. 

“ ‘ A watched pot never boils,’ ” she quoted. 

But that very evening the watched pot ” did 
boil. The postman arrived later than usual, and 
tossing a handful of envelopes on the mail table, 
said loudly to the house in general, Miss Lillian 
Antwerp from Boothbay Harbor,” and slamming 
the door, went his relieved way. 

Now it chanced that Lillian was in the library 
receiving a call from Beau Brown, and observing 
that his new patent leathers were a full size smaller 
than the feet they were pinching. Lillian’s ob- 
servation was acute and chronic in the wrong 
direction,” Belle Eaton said. The Beau was secre- 
tary of the senior class, and had brought a receipt 
on which he desired Lillian’s signature. She was 
the class treasurer by virtue of her popularity and 
not her merits, as her suffering fellow officers had 
reason to know. She was just innocently inform- 
ing the Beau that she never could remember to 
sign receipts, when the postman’s address to the 
empty hall reached her ears and sent her flying to 
49 


A SENIOR CO-ED 

the hall stand with a hasty, ‘‘Excuse me just a 
second/’ 

Sure enough ! The postman was right. There 
lay the anxiously awaited letter. Lillian felt like 
shouting up the stairs, but, instead, she went back 
to the library and her business duties. Fluttering 
nervously about the room she gave the Beau an 
unflatteringly divided attention while he patiently 
explained the receipt. Then, having bowed the 
wearer of the patent leathers out of the door, she 
raised a joyful voice at the foot of the stairs. 

“ Girls, girls, come down I It’s here. The post- 
man just brought it. The coast is clear.” 

The next instant, there was the sound of open- 
ing doors and the patter of slippered feet as the 
residents of the second and third floors, twenty- 
seven in all, the members of the Alpha Gamma 
sorority, stampeded down the stairs and into the 
library in every possible array compatible with ease 
and warmth. The advance guard were the Twist- 
ers, who wore green eye shades clamped about 
their heads with wire. Winifred fairly tumbled 
into the room behind the Twisters, her long yellow 
hair snapping about her shoulders in two braids, 
a pen behind one shapely ear and a page of her 
thesis in her hand. Belle Eaton followed, her tall 
form encased in a dressing robe presented to her by 
a cousin who had purchased it with a view to her 
50 


WATCHED POT^^ 


own fair skin, and the result was that the brunette 
Belle was outfitted with a delicate blue robe which 
made her positively swarthy. 

Has she fixed the day for us to evacuate our 
room?” Clara Pike demanded. 

If she comes to-morrow,” Winifred announced 
breathlessly, “ I shall clean the hall myself before 
chapel. Where ” 

She stopped abruptly looking at Lillian. Lillian 
was looking at the table with a blank stare. The 
table was also blank as to contents. Its polished 
surface, unencumbered by a scrap of paper, returned 
the stare. 

Why, girls. Pm certain I laid it right here,” 
Lillian pointed, and now I canT find it any- 
where.” 

She stepped back and surveyed the floor. The 
table stood in the middle of the rug, and neither 
table nor rug held the letter. Lillian extended 
her hands and turned them over slowly. I held 
it and now it’s gone,” she insisted. 

You went to the door,” suggested Winifred. 

We’ll look in the hall. If the postman brought 
it of course it’s here.” 

The search was prosecuted with instant vigor. 
Rebecca Bicknell disappeared beneath the back 
parlor couch far from the scene of the loss. 
“ When Lill mislays anything,” she advised in a 

51 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


muffled voice, look for it where she thinks she 
didn’t lose it.” 

Half a dozen of the girls, on hands and knees, 
searched the floors. Another half dozen, led by 
Winifred, were searching Lillian herself when they 
were interrupted by a series of violent rings at the 
door-bell. 

The searchers stood not on the order of their 
going. Through the dining-room and kitchen 
they rushed helter-skelter, and up the back stairs, 
while the maid advanced slowly through the sud- 
denly quiet hall, and, with a smile, opened the 
door on Moses Carter, the self-styled Captain of 
the Farming Industry ” and owner of the Two- 
Faced House.” 


52 


CHAPTER IV 


CALLS AND CALLERS 

At the head of the back stairs Belle Eaton gave 
Erma Cunningham a little push. You’d better 
go find out who it is,” she advised in a stage 
whisper. 

The Twisters as a unit acted on the advice. 
With their green shades pushed up from their eyes 
and their feet in carpet slippers they shot forward 
noiselessly and hung in their favorite postures over 
the stair railing. There was nothing to see below 
except the maid, and as for hearing — the girls, 
massed silently at the far end of the hall, experienced 
no difficulty in that direction. 

The voice which boomed through the house was 
a big one. It seemed to echo from the region of 
substantial boot soles. It carried with it the 
buoyant confidence and rich self-sufficiency which 
should characterize any Captain of Industry. 

Evening to ye,” yelled Mr. Carter to the maid. 
''Just you step up-stairs and tell that Winifred 
Lowe that I want t’ see her a minute, will ye? 
And if she ain’t there, any of them other seniors 
will do. Tell ’er I ain’t aiming to make ’er a visit. 

53 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


A man with four hundred acres of land to run and 
seven hired men and a shover to keep on the move 
ain't got time t' make long calls, but tell 'er my 
wife Sairy sent me." 

“ A ‘ shover,' " whispered Clara Pike in a 

strangled voice. ‘‘ What on earth " 

Sh ! " Erma Cunningham drove her elbow 
against Clara's ribs. “ Must be a new farm ma- 
chine." 

The maid backed away from the door as the tall 
figure edged inside the hall. It was a frosty night 
and the figure was encased in a huge coat which 
reached from the rim of a derby hat to the ankles 
of high riding boots. His round, red face was 
raised expectantly toward the second story. It 
was a face in which all the lines radiated slantingly 
from a point midway in a broad and supple brow, 
giving Mr. Carter an expression of perpetual and 
innocent surprise. 

Before the maid reached the second story 
Winifred had her braids coiled about her head and 
was prepared to interview her caller. The interview 
filled the hearts of the seniors with joy, and the 
other hearts on the second floor with envy. 

“To-morrow is Saturday, ain't it?" inquired 
Moses jocularly when Winifred stood before him, 
“ and if Sairy has the right of it, the seniors don't 
have to go t' school Saturdays." 

54 


CALLS AND CALLERS 


Winifred nodded laughing. No school Satur- 
days for us.^^ 

Moses Carter beamed. Wall now, Sairy is 
bound t' have you six out t^ Carterville to-morrow 
and spend Sunday, and I dunno as I can hinder 
her. When that woman gets her mind sot on 
something — wall, I can manage four hundred acres 
and seven hired men and a shover, but when it 

comes to Sairy Can ye come at eleven ? 

Moses ended abruptly with a shake of his head, 
an upraising of his mobile brows and a grin so 
broad that its edges disappeared beneath the rim 
of his derby. 

There was a subdued stir on the second floor, 
and Winifred suddenly raised her voice, “ Girls, 
can we go ? 

A fivefold answer rollicked down the stairs. 

Always to the Two-Faced House, Oh, yes, 
indeed,’^ “ Of course we can come,^’ Will Mrs. 
Carter have pumpkin pie?^^ Then Lillian’s voice, 
half joy and half wail, Yes, if we find the letter 
before then I ” 

Listening, ain’t they?” grinned Mr. Carter. 

That’s like a woman I All right. I’ll send my 
shover after ye at three o’clock. You ” 

'' What will come after us ? ” interrupted Wini- 
fred mystified. 

It was the question for which Moses Carter had 

55 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


been waiting. He threw open the door and yelled 
out into the night, Set ^er up, Jim, and let these 
Alphy Gammies see what can be done regardless. 

The silence of the crisp air was at once shattered 
— as were also the nerves of the “ Alphy Gammies ” 
— by a long drawn sound set up ’’ by the chauf- 
feur, a sound which was a successful combination 
of the yell of a Comanche warrior and the howl of 
a hungry wolf. 

“ That is what you^l ride behind to-morrow,” 
Moses announced proudly as the shriek quavered 
itself into silence, and the startled exclamations on 
the second floor died away. IVe got a new auty. 
Paid down an even four thousand for her. None 
of your little runabouts for me. When Mose 
Carter gets, he gets regardless. None of your little 
two penny squealers for me neither. I said to the 
agent, says I, ‘ I want a horn that’ll play such a 
tune as can be heard all over Huntingdon. You 
get me a sound what is a sound, regardless,’ and he 
done it.” 

I — I should think he did,” gasped Winifred. 
She was leaning against the door-jamb limply. 

Have Jim set ’er off all ye want to on the way 
out to-morrow,” Moses encouraged. “ It’s made 
for use, that horn is, and to be heard. Good- 
bye.” 

The last word was for the benefit of listening 
56 


CALLS AND CALLERS 


ears. With a forefinger the departing Moses 
beckoned Winifred into the vestibule. He closed 
the door and lowered his voice. “ If you can fetch 
it right while you’re out t’ Cartersville, just drop a 
word or two t’ Sairy Mary about the joys of that 
weddin’ trip, will ye ? You have lots of influence 
with Sairy.” 

“ I’ll do my best,” Winifred assured him. 

Mr. Carter opened the outer door. If I can’t 
beat Betts all holler on a weddin’ tower I’ll eat the 
greaser ! ” he ejaculated complacently. 

Winifred found the girls crowded into Lillian’s 
room to catch a glimpse of the new car, but they 
saw only two broad streaks of light running down 
the dim avenue followed by the ear-ofiending, 
quavering howl which delighted the soul of its 
owner. Moses reveled in the unusual, regard- 
less ” of expense. 

Lillian clapped her hands ecstatically. That 
will delight Mrs. Cregg,” she exclaimed. ''She 
loves what she calls ' human touches.’ ” 

" That horn is what I call an inhuman touch ! ” 
retorted Rebecca, " but if it pleases Mrs. Cregg, and 
helps to induce her son Billy to ornament a chair 
on the Hill I shall smile and smile at it — and have 
the feelings of a villain ! And that ridiculous 
word ' shover ’ ” 

" I shall never think in terms of ' chauffeur ' 
57 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


again/^ Winifred burst out. “ ‘ Shover ’ is so much 
more appropriate to the calling.’^ 

Girls/^ cried Lillian vigorously, I shall call 
it a ^ human touch ' when I lay hands on that 
letter again. Come on down-stairs.” 

But at the head of the stairs they were halted 
again by the unceremonious slamming of the 
vestibule door. The hall door flew open and a 
shrill voice yelled to the upper floor, “ Ev-en-ing 
News here ! But that ainT what I come to say.” 

Winifred again descended the stairs smiling 
down at the ten-year-old business man who had 
unceremoniously invaded the house. 

He stood in front of the door, his thin arms piled 
high with papers, his thin legs straddled impor- 
tantly apart, his thin alert face grinning beneath 
a cap balanced on the back of his head. He was 
John Wilmot, known as Newsy,” a part and parcel 
of the life on the Hill, and an exceedingly impor- 
tant part — in his own estimation, sort of an Atlas 
on whose shoulders the Hill rested. 

I come up with Mr. Carter, I did,” he boasted 
as he handed out a paper, in his new auty.” 

Giving a long sniff he drew his coat sleeve across 
his nose. Mrs. Carter, with whom he lived, had 
provided him generously with handkerchiefs. One 
now reposed folded carefully in the depths of his 
pocket, but Newsy was too busy to practice all the 
5S 


CALLS AND CALLERS 


social arts. His under-sized body was the embodi- 
ment of motion. Newsy hustled.’’ He patron- 
ized a school six hours in the days, spent one in 
eating, his evenings in selling the News on the 
Hill, and divided the remainder of his time be- 
tween sleep and a worship of the Carters and their 
possessions. No wonder it was necessary for Newsy 
to hustle. 

Do you approve of Mr. Carter’s investment, 
John?” asked Winifred. Newsy’s friends on the 
Hill could not decide whether Carterville had 
adopted Newsy or whether he had adopted Carter- 
ville. 

The boy shifted the weight of papers to his other 
arm. You bet I do — but say, now, I hain’t got 
no use for that Jim Arnold, I hain’t.” 

Jim Arnold ? ” repeated Winifred inquiringly. 

“Yep, Jim he makes the thing go. We don’t 
get along very well, I can tell ye I ” Newsy 
planted his feet further apart. 

“ What’s the trouble? ” asked Winifred. 

Newsy raised his coat sleeve to his face again, 
paused, considered and sought his handkerchief. 
“ Well, him and me don’t agree about Mr. Carter. 
Jim says he don’t know much, says he’s a old fool, 
and I says to Jim that if he knowed as much he’d 
be ownin’ four hundred acres ’stid of jest be 

runnin’ a auty for the owner ” 

59 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


“ Good for you, Newsy I came down the stairs’ 
from the invisible chorus above. “ That^s sound 
reasoning.’^ 

Newsy, swelling with importance, raised his 
voice. ‘‘ He got as red as anything, and when all 
the hired men laughed, Jim he swatted me one 
b'side of head, and I jest up and downed ’im.'^ 

“ You 1 ’’ cried Winifred incredulously. “ Why, 
John I How could you ? 

Newsy swaggered. “ I got behind 4m and run and 
bunted him on the legs jest like Rameses the Great 
and he went down and got an nawful nose on 4m. 

“ And what did you do then ? asked Winifred. 

Newsy drew in his feet and otherwise shrank. 
He opened the hall door. Why — I — I jest kept on 
runnin’ and I’m sort of keepin’ out of his way since. 
But,” again boastful, when he lays inf Mr. Carter 
ag4n, and he’s always doin’ it, him and me’llhave 
another time, that’s all. I hain’t got no use fer 
Jim.” 

“ Who’s Rameses the Great?” came down the 
stairs in a tone of lively interest. 

“ It’s the blooded bunter,” Newsy yelled back. 

“ What?” the interested voice was reinforced. 

'' Mr. Carter’s blooded buntin’ sheep. He keeps 
him shut up. mostly. He bunts somethin’ fierce 
when he gits a chance. He paid hundreds an’ 
hundreds an’ hundreds of dollars for ’im.” 

6o 


CALLS AND CALLERS 


Leaving his audience to supply proper antece- 
dents for his pronouns, the boy addressed Winifred 
hurriedly : 

Say I Mis’ Carter she wanted me to stop in 
and see if Mr. Carter done her errand all right. 
She’s afraid he’ll forgit because there’s two things 
t’ be remembered. You folks is to come to-morrow 
— that’s one — and stay all day Sunday — that’s 
two ! ” He slammed the vestibule door shut and 
raised a shrill cry of Papi-ers here ! Evenin’ 
News, all the news. Papi-ers here I ” while the 
girls trooped down-stairs, and continued the search, 
joined by Mrs. Munroe, who, although she did not 
understand the ultimate object of the invitation to 
Mrs. Cregg, had become deeply interested in that 
lady’s prospective visit. 

Rebecca promptly disappeared beneath the back 
parlor couch again, wheezing from the dust which 
her movements raised. The Twisters, on hands 
and knees, investigated the floors beneath the edges 
of the rugs. Winifred hunted the vestibule over. 
Mrs. Munroe sat on the window-seat and advanced 
mild suggestions on which the girls had already 
acted. She also mildly put forth opinions as to 
the carelessness of the present day girl, which 
grated on Lillian’s already overwrought nerves, 
but which she endured in silence. 

At the end of a fruitless half-hour anxiety took 

6i 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


possession of the searchers. Lillian leaned against 
the table smoothing its surface with her hand as 
though distrustful of the evidence of her sense 
of sight which told her that the letter was not 
there. 

“Winifred,” she mourned, “how awful for a 
guest to come and not find some one to meet her.” 

Winifred patted the hand on the table reassur- 
ingly. Winifred was Alpha Gamma^s stronghold 
of hopefulness. “ But some one will meet her. 
Don’t cross that bridge to-night.” 

“ But day after to-morrow and the day after that 
is Monday,” insisted Lillian, “ and she may start 
then. A letter wouldn’t reach her — and here we 
will be with her on her way to us.” 

“ Her letter,” returned Winifred, “ didn’t have 
wings. It’s either in this house or ” 

She stopped suddenly, stared at Lillian with 
widening eyes, and then fiew to the telephone. 

“ The Hill, 2-0-3-4, please.” She addressed 
Central. 

“ Goodness gracious ! ” exclaimed Lillian. “ I 
never thought of that ! Of course he carried it 
off I ” She sank down expectantly on the rug and 
sat there Turk fashion. 

“ Is this the Psi Upsilon Chapter House? ” asked 
Winifred. “ Is Mr. Brown there? ” 

“ Of course ! ” echoed Rebecca Bicknell, grasping 
62 


CALLS AND CALLERS 


Winifred's idea. “ Why didn’t I think of that 
myself? ” 

Because,” Lillian responded with vigor, you 
can’t digest a pound of chocolates and think at the 
same time I Even Winifred couldn’t do that.” 

“ They were eaten yesterday,” Rebecca retorted, 
*^and none left for you — hence the unsisterly spirit 
which you show ! ” 

Winifred commanded silence by shaking a small 
fist behind her. ‘‘ Not in ? ” her tone was protest- 
ing. “ Then, may I speak to Mr. Stearns, please ? ” 

“ Of course you may,” murmured Belle Eaton, 
“ always, at any time, in any place, as long as you 
like ! ” 

Winifred fiushed slightly, and addressed 2-0-3-4 
again. Yes — and, Landon, when Mr. Brown 
comes in, will you please ask him if, by any mis- 
take, he carried a letter away from here to-night ? 
It was addressed to Lillian Antwerp, and is very 

important. She missed it directly after he left ” 

Here she paused listening. Then, Yes, I can see 
you for a few moments — very well — directly after 
he comes — yes.” 

It was not necessary to explain this one-sided 
conversation. Rebecca arose with a fiourish, say- 
ing : Fare ye well. If the Two-Faced House sees 

me at three I must get out about six pages of ” 

Me too,” interrupted Clara Pike, who was 
63 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


specializing in literature, and was an amateur au- 
thority on the correct use of the English language 
— as spoken by others. 

Half an hour later, the maid being absent, Mrs. 
Munroe, who had seated herself in the library 
with a book, answered a summons from the door- 
bell and admitted three young men. 

“ Have you brought the letter ? she asked of 
Landon Stearns who entered first. 

Landon beamed confidently down from his 
straight six feet of good-looking youth. He re- 
moved his hat and ran his fingers through his 
curly dark hair. “ No, Mrs. Munroe, but I have 
brought along a man who knows where it is 
located.’^ 

He referred to Beau Brown, who trod on his 
heels and hastened to assure the house mother that 
he knew the whereabouts of the letter. ‘‘ Hap- 
pened to notice where Miss Antwerp laid it,’^ he 
declared. 

In the wake of these two came Joseph Amherst 
Pierce, the only resident of the Hill on whom the 
students bestowed his full name in every-day con- 
versation. The first day that he was the recipient 
of this mark of distinction, he enjoyed it. Then, 
when he came to understand the Hill better, he 
fervently wished that his mother had named him 
briefly Jo Pierce.” 


64 


CALLS AND CALLERS 


While the boys were divesting themselves of 
their top coats in the hall, they were joined by the 
six seniors from the second floor, who had, at 
Winifred’s request, made themselves presentable. 
Lillian was in advance, beaming gratefully on the 
Beau. 

“ I heard you,” she announced. ‘‘ I remember 
now that I did do something with that letter, but 
I can’t recall just what. And it would be awful 
if Mrs. Gregg ” 

Rebecca’s voice cut across her speech warningly. 

Lillian Antwerp, beware I ” 

Lillian drew herself up with dignity. I 
haven’t said one thing to ^ beware ’ about 1 ” 

Landon’s eyes had sought Winifred’s at the 
name of “ Gregg.” Winifred touched her lips 
and shook her head and Landon raised his eye- 
brows. 

“ Say, fellows,” suggested Beau Brown, “ what 
do you say to making a bargain with ’em ? We 
will produce that letter if they will tell us what’s 
up.” 

Erma Gunningham stepped coolly to the door, 
turned the key and removed it. Prisoners of 
war never dictate terms to their captors. You 
will at once forward march into the library and 
raise the siege.” 

Beau Brown gave her a military salute, and 

65 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


swung about on his heels. Fall in line, boys. 
* To the victors belong the spoils.^ 

With a confident stride, he preceded the group to 
the library, Lillian, despite her absorption, observ- 
ing that the patent leathers had been replaced by 
larger shoes. 

Winifred and Landon purposely loitered an in- 
stant in the hall. 

“ It’s from Dr. Gregg’s mother,” Winifred mur- 
mured hastily. “ I can’t explain now. But I know 
that you know. I’ll tell you when I get a chance. 
It’s fine about your father I ” was her parting re- 
mark at the door of the library. 

“ Aw I ” Landon began and then stopped awk- 
wardly. It always embarrassed him to have his 
father’s wealth in any way called in question. He 
had a feeling of discomfort whenever he passed be- 
neath the arch of the new science building and 
saw the words, The Stearns Hall of Science,” 
cut into the granite of the arch. 

It isn’t,” he explained once to Winifred, it 
isn’t that I consider it any disgrace to be a rich 
man’s son, but a fellow has such an awful lot to 
live down. No one expects him to make good 
anywhere ! ” 

The loiterers reached the library door in time to 
see Beau Brown approach the book shelves which 
filled one side of the room. 

66 


CALLS AND CALLERS 


“ I noticed/^ said the Beau, that when you sat 
down to sign the receipt you laid the letter right 
here ’’ 

So I did,’^ cried Lillian, but even as she spoke, 
a new line of perplexity appeared between her 
brows. 

‘‘ Right here,’’ repeated the Beau inserting his 
hand between the third shelf and the books on the 
second shelf. He swept the tops of the books 
hastily and stepped back with a blank expression 
looking at his empty hand. 


67 


CHAPTER V 


SEARCH-LIGHTS 

“ It has fallen behind the shelves/* declared 
Landon Stearns and Winifred in the same 
breath. 

Joseph Amherst Pierce made a show of rolling 
up his sleeves. A chance here for some one to 
show his muscle/* he remarked, glancing mean- 
ingly from Landon to the bookcase. 

The case, which had no back, was set some three 
or four inches from the wall, to the disgust of the 
maid whose duty it was to keep that narrow space 
clean at the end of a mop. 

The united muscle of the three not being suf- 
ficient to budge the heavily laden shelves, Joseph 
Amherst, perspiring in a way painful to his dignity, 
called for a movable light. 

If you fellows didn’t have swelled heads,” he 
added kindly, you could get ’em behind those 
shelves.” 

“ Try yours,” suggested Landon. Pierce and I 
can tell you truths enough to shrink it suffi- 
ciently I ” 


68 


SEARCH-LIGHTS 


On the window-seat Lillian sat staring at the end 
of her slipper and repeating vaguely, 1 wish I 
could think I I do wish I could think I 

Belle Eaton was wandering slowly about look- 
ing into impossible places, behind pictures and 
mantel ornaments. Belle’s movements were always 
slow when she could keep herself in mind. Other- 
wise she went off like a trigger,” according to 
her own description. 

‘‘The cook has candles,” called Mrs. Munroe 
from the back parlor, replying to Pierce’s demand. 
‘‘ You might be able to see by the light of one of 
those.” 

Rebecca instantly disappeared into the kitchen. 
When she reappeared, she bore an old-fashioned 
candle set in a tin candlestick, dripping grease and 
smelling of the tallow which composed it. 

Ladies and gentlemen,” she proclaimed, “ I am 
now in a position to throw light on this vexatious 
subject.” 

At that moment the door-bell announced an- 
other caller. Erma produced the key and ad- 
mitted a young man who seemed built on the 
principles of squareness from his head to the toes 
of his shoes and thence to his manners. 

“ Is Miss Antwerp at home? ” he asked firmly, 
stepping inside the hall, hat in hand. 

She is present in body,” responded Erma 
69 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


sweetly, “ but absent in mind. You can judge for 
yourself. She’s in the library.” 

Rebecca held the candle aloft. Follow this 
search-light,” she commanded, “ and you’ll find 
not only Miss Antwerp but others.” 

Hello, Cooper I ” called Landon. ‘‘ What’s 
needed here is mental search-lights. Brought 
yours along ? ” 

Joseph Amherst Pierce pointed an imaginary 
gun at the newcomer’s head. “ The letter or your 
life ! ” he vociferated. 

Sayles Cooper paused on the threshold. His 
serious face softened into a smile. Letter — what 
letter ? ” 

Mr. Cooper,” explained Lillian, becoming pres- 
ent in mind, “ I received a very important letter 
to-night, and now it’s gone. It came when Mr. 
Brown was here first and when he went away, 
why, the letter went also.” 

Well — now I say ! ” began that young man. 

“ 1 think you would better make use of a search 
warrant instead of a search-light,” exclaimed 
Cooper. 

Rebecca interrupted. ‘‘ Let’s use this candle 
now, or I’ll have grease all over me and the rug.” 
She held the article at arm’s length. 

' The girls passed the candle from hand to hand, 
while the boys hunted. Back of the bookcase, 
70 


SEARCH-LIGHTS 


between the shelves, behind the books, under the 
window-seat, into every obscure corner the candle 
was thrust, but to no purpose. 

Nothing noticed save disgraceful dust,’' sighed 
Belle Eaton pensively. Being deep in the Age of 
Chaucer, Belle was given to alliteration. She 
snored alliteratively, her roommate affirmed. 
''There’s just one pface where we have not 
looked,” she added after a pause. 

The announcement awakened no enthusiasm. 
The Beau was fanning himself laboriously with a 
lean sofa pillow. Landon sat on the edge of a 
chair, one leg of which had, that very evening, 
given up the task of aiding in the support of the 
sitter. Sayles Cooper was thoughtfully studying 
Lillian who was concentrating on a corner of the 
rug in a vain endeavor to think where she had put 
the letter. 

" One place,” repeated Belle. 

Joseph Amherst Pierce wiped his face again 
with his handkerchief. " You must refer to the 
fireplace chimney, and its size and mine don’t 
correspond.” Then he added in a livelier tone, 
" On second thoughts now — Brown could be fitted 
nicely into a small chimney.” 

" Thanks awfully ! ” returned that thin young 
man. " I presume you think you’d be a perfect 
fit for a chimney corner.” 

71 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


Here Belle arose decisively, pushed a hassock in 
front of the bookcase, and stepping thereon sur- 
veyed the top shelf which was just her own height 
when she stood on the floor. On the shelf Shake- 
speare and Tennyson turned cold bronze shoul- 
ders to each other across a Cupid on whose back 
was a covered quiver fllled with matches instead 
of arrows. 

More disgraceful dust,^^ groaned Belle, and 
no letter ” 

Her foot slipped, her elbow hit the match safe 
and down she sat on the low hassock with more 
force than grace. At the same time Cupid turned 
a somersault behind the bookcase and distributed 
the contents of his quiver over the narrow strip of 
floor. 

Four young men sprang to Belle’s assistance, 
while five young women made vain attempts to 
suppress their laughter. 

‘‘ We’ll administer first aid to the injured,” said 
Landon as he and Sayles Cooper lifted Belle to her 
feet. 

It’s Cupid that needs first aid this time,” 
cried Lillian glancing at the empty space between 
the poets. “ What first aid have you to offer 
him?” 

Beau Brown coughed suggestively behind his 
hand. “ Stearns has no ideas on that subject,” he 
72 


SEARCH-LIGHTS 


answered blandly peering behind the bookcase. 
“ But, fortunately, I have. We’ll have to chase 
the little chap out of here with a poker before we 
can find out the extent of his injuries.” 

Landon, with a dark look at the back of the 
Beau’s head, procured a poker from the fireplace 
in the back parlor and Cupid was soon standing 
on the table. 

The accident has made him harmless,” cried 
Cooper. “ See here ! His quiver is gone.” 

** And that means,” the house stewardess broke 
in, “ that all of the matches are behind the book- 
case and must be found.” 

A broom was produced and the candle once 
more did friendly duty. Rebecca held it at one 
end of the case while Landon carefully swept the 
matches out at the other end and gathered them up. 

“ Don’t leave one,” commanded Winifred anx- 
iously. 

‘‘Good people,” exclaimed Lillian, patient for 
once, “ we have all forgotten that letter.” 

“ Write to the sender and ask her to forward 
you a facsimile,” suggested Joseph Amherst Pierce. 

“ But that’s the trouble,” declared Lillian with 
vigor. “ She may be here on Monday. There’s 
no time to get a letter to her.” 

Joseph Amherst raised his eyebrows. “ Oh — 
it’s from a visitor to be, then.” 

73 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


Yes, and such an important visitor — I mean,” 
hastily, such a talented, smart and lovely woman. 
I never met her equal, and I wouldn’t have her 
come here and find no one at the station to meet 
her for anything ! ” 

Her name,” supplied Winifred glancing at 
Landon, is Mrs. Cregg.” 

Landon dropped a handful of matches and 
hastily stooped to pick them up again. 

“ Yes,” Lillian continued, ^‘and she is a writer 
and — and — she’s great ! ” 

“ In which sense of that very useful word ? ” 
asked Sayles Cooper. 

“Not its slang sensei” returned Lillian im- 
pressively. “ She is really great. She has written 
lots of things — I mean to find out just what some 

day when I have time and Now what are you 

all laughing at? ” 

Before any one had time to reply Mrs. Munroe 
coughed loudly from her post in the back parlor. 
It was not a sound induced by a cold. Mrs. Munroe 
was looking fixedly at the clock. She coughed 
again. 

The boys arose reluctantly. “ If, in the years to 
come, I ever hear a cough in Timbuctoo,” muttered 
Landon to Winifred, “ I shall start to get out, 
thinking I’m treading on the edge of a house 
rule.” 


74 


SEARCH-LIGHTS 


Beneath the real clock hung the false face of one 
with the hands indicating ten thirty. When the 
timepiece above corresponded with the paper face 
below, Mrs. Munroe always had trouble with her 
throat. 

But the letter isn^t found, mourned Lillian 
following the boys into the hall. What shall we 
do?^^ 

“ See here ! exclaimed Landon pausing with 
one arm in the sleeve of his top coat. ‘‘ Why can^t 
you — we — fix things in this way for Mrs. Cregg? 
You say that letter was to tell you what time next 
week she expects to arrive. Well, let^s start in 
Monday morning and meet all the passenger trains 
on which she could possibly get here. We fellows 
will help. We can take turns and keep it up until 
she comes.” 

Lillian’s face, which had become unusually long, 
shortened at once. “ Of course ! Then we needn’t 
think about the letter again. I can describe her 
to a T-dot so you’d all know her on sight.” 

Winifred, at this point, shook her sunny head 
doubtfully, but made no comments, and after 
pledging their devoted assistance to any plan 
which might be devised before Monday morning, 
the boys departed. 

The girls, save Winifred and Rebecca, ran up- 
stairs. These two went back to the library, the 
75 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


latter to blow out the candle and return it to the 
kitchen, Winifred to cast a watchful eye again be- 
hind the bookcase. 

“ Ihn sure we got all of the matches,” Rebecca 
assured her seeing the movement. 

Thus assured, the stewardess went her usual 
rounds for the night, examining window fasten- 
ings, locking the doors, and taking a last look at 
the kitchen fire. 

By midnight the house was dark and quiet. The 
girls slept soundly never dreaming of the devasta- 
tion which could be caused by one little match, 
overlooked at the side of the bookcase, in the 
mouth of one small mouse intent on the construc- 
tion of a nest on the third shelf amid a collection 
of mothy little volumes which had not been moved 
since summer house cleaning. 

Starlight was yielding to the light from the 
east before the result of the mouse’s work was 
made known in a word, the awful sound of which 
no one in the house ever forgot. To the accom- 
paniment of a furious pounding on the outer door 
came the hoarse cry, “ Fire ! Fire I Your house is 
on fire I ” 


76 


CHAPTER VI 


TOO MUCH LIGHT ON THE SUBJECT 

Winifred, whose small room was directly over 
the front door, heard first and started up with a 
rapidly beating heart. 

The cry came from the watchman whose beat on 
the Hill was usually a monotonous round of walk- 
ing and dozing. He had turned in the fire alarm 
before coming to the house, and now he was divid- 
ing his strength between muscular efforts to break 
down the door and vocal efforts to awaken the girls. 
In the last he was at once successful. 

With fingers which would scarcely obey her, 
Winifred drew on a pair of bedroom slippers, and, 
throwing her kimono over her shoulders, opened 
her door. She was met by the odor of smoke. 
All she could hear was the watchman and a cu- 
rious, crinkling, crackling sound. 

Her feet seemed made of lead as she dragged 
them down the stairs. She unlocked the door, 
and as the policeman swung it open, the draft 
fanned into a blaze the smoldering fire at the other 
end of the hall. 

Get the girls up and into some clothes I ” he 
77 


A SENIOR CO--ED 


yelled, rushing down the hall. Tell ’em to keep 
cool and hustle.” 

A curious light, Winifred noticed, came from 
the library, but she did not pause to investigate it. 
The policeman’s commands lent wings to her feet. 
She flew up the stairs, repeating his words to the 
shadowy white figures that appeared in the door- 
ways startled, confused, questioning. 

Get back to your rooms, girls, and put on 
your clothes,” she quavered. The house is 
on fire. Quick ! Shoes and coats ! Put ’em on, 
quick I ” 

From room to room she hurried, exhorting, 
commanding, helping, while confusion reigned, 
and the smoke began to roll up the stairway in a 
cloud. Through the cloud rang the policeman’s 
voice urging haste. Half dressed, dragging or 
carrying various articles of clothing, or encumbered 
with things caught up at random, the denizens of 
the chapter house crowded into the halls obeying 
the insistent masculine voice. The watchman, 
driven by the smoke, was now in the upper hall. 

Half dressed and wholly bewildered, the girls 
hurried toward him, some crying, a few laughing 
hysterically, their arms loaded with objects more 
or less absurd. 

Belle Eaton reached the front stairs first, a dress 
skirt showing below her coat and above the tops 
78 


TOO MUCH LIGHT ON THE SUBJECT 

of her bedroom slippers. In her arms she clutched 
a soft pale blue bundle. 

At the head of the stairs a stifling cloud of smoke 
stopped both girls and policeman. 

“The back stairs I cried Winifred. “ Go down 
the back stairs.’^ 

There was a rush down the hall. Belle hesitated, 
choked, and cast the pale blue bundle into the hall 
below and ran stumblingly after the others. 

At the head of the back stairs Winifred paused, 
and stepping aside, pressed the skirt of her kimono 
over nose and mouth, and rushing past the police- 
man choking but determined, closed all the cham- 
ber doors. She was the last one into the kitchen. 

The kitchen to which the back stairs led, shut 
off from the rest of the house, was not even smoke 
scented, and it took but a moment for the police- 
man to herd therein the girls, the house mother, the 
cook and the maid, while up College Road came 
the rush of horses and the clangor of bells. Then 
he unlocked the outside door,' opened it and 
hesitated, looking back. 

“ Stay here until further orders,^^ he shouted 
and ran down the steps to meet the fire chief, who 
at that moment sprang out of his runabout. 

Policemen came out of nowhere and formed a 
fire line. There was a crash of glass in the library, 
and the tramp of heavy feet in the dining-room. 

79 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


Helmeted heads flashed past the kitchen windows. 
Long lines of hose squirmed through the frosty 
grass like serpents. The campus behind the fire 
line was filling with students, both men and women, 
in various states of dress and undress, silently 
watching. 

The kitchen formed an ell at the south side of 
the house, and as a brisk south wind was blowing, 
the smoke was carried away from the girls except 
as it filtered in around the back stair door and the 
door leading to the butler's pantry. 

Girls," exclaimed Lillian Antwerp suddenly 
as though the idea were entirely new, “ our chapter 
house is burning up." 

Bursting into tears she sat down on the floor and 
wept into one corner of the fur coat which Winifred 
had helped to put on her. Rebecca Bicknell 
promptly joined her, the sound of their weeping 
mingling tragically with the hiss of water which 
was doing more damage than the fire on the other 
side of the partition that separated them from the 
dining-room. 

Presently the outer door opened and a helmeted 
head was poked in. A cheerful voice issued from 
a blackened face. “ Don't be scared, girls. Fire's 
under control. Stay where you are. You're 
safe." 

This statement from the fire chief relieved some- 
8o 


TOO MUCH LIGHT ON THE SUBJECT 

what the tension in the kitchen. The cook shook 
the stove calmly, and put on the drafts. No use 
of our freezin^ as long as we’re not going to burn 
up,” she remarked philosophically. 

Flossie Rogers deposited her unabridged diction- 
ary on the floor and sat down on it. The fact that 
she had brought it down-stairs at the expense of a 
bent back and aching arms made no present appeal 
to her. One of the sophomores put on a shoe 
which she found in her hand. Lillian was en- 
cumbered by her empty suit-case. 

Belle Eaton sat on the broad window still looking 
grim and stern. Suddenly she broke out, Well, 
I got rid of it, that’s one thing certain ! I never 
imagined I’d be so cool in the face of danger.” 

No one asked her what she had rid herself of, 
and she subsided. 

Once more the outer door opened, and a member 
of the Hook and Ladder Company appeared 
leisurely. His duties were ended. He bore 
beneath one arm a pale blue bundle which he cast 
into the midst of the company. “ Found that on 
the hall floor first thing,” laconically. “ Some 
one’s glad rag ! Git the smell ofl*’n it and no one 
will ever know it has been through a Are.” 

Why, Belle Eaton ! ” Lillian’s tears still washed 
her cheeks, it’s your new kimono.” 

Belle sang no hymn of rejoicing. She slid off 

8i 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


the window sill, grabbed the bundle, thrust it 
vindictively behind the water pipes, and relapsed 
into gloomy silence after the one exasperated ex- 
clamation of And this is the end of all my cool- 
ness and thoughtfulness ! ” 

Winifred, who had been leaning against the stair 
door, went to a window and looked out. Where 
did those things come from ? she asked in a dazed 
voice, pointing. 

No one replied. The Twisters drew nearer to- 
gether. Those things were pieces of furniture 
from their room. As soon as the cry of fire ” 
had awakened them, they had arisen and with one 
accord, under the impression that they were acting 
wisely and well, had opened the window and 
pitched everything out which they could lift. 

It was the first time, as Erma Cunningham ex- 
plained afterward, that any of the girls had been 
“ under fire ” and their records were as unexpected 
as those of any other raw recruits. 

While Winifred was staring dazedly at the 
wrecked furniture, and the rest had begun to 
choke with the smoke which had forced an en- 
trance, the mistress of the next house appeared 
with an invitation to the fire sufferers to occupy 
her living-room, and the invitation was promptly 
accepted. This warm and comfortable room still 
further restored the girls to themselves. 

82 


TOO MUCH LIGHT ON THE SUBJECT 

The dazed expression on Winifred^s face began 
to clear away. She shook herself and glanced 
into a mirror opposite as though she were renew- 
ing the acquaintance of a long lost friend. 
Through the window she watched the smoke com- 
ing fitfully now from the broken window opposite. 

“Whereas Mrs. Munroe?^’she asked suddenly 
looking about. 

The chaperon had been silently weeded from 
the group by the mistress of the house. The rea- 
son was even then apparent in the aroma of cofiee 
that filtered through the less agreeable odor in the 
living-room. 

“ I’m hungry as a bear ! ” exclaimed Flossie 
Rogers. It was the first characteristic remark any 
one had heard that morning. 

So am I,” said Belle Eaton mournfully, but, 
of course, they can’t feed such a hungry horde 
here.” Belle’s alliteration was unconscious this 
time. 

Girls,” began Winifred, there’s something we 
must do right away.” She looked about for a 
telephone, but none appeared. 

I know what I should like to do,” sighed 
Flossie, turning her nose in the direction of the 
cofiee. 

At that moment, through the fire line, came M. 
Gussie Barker, with a word of explanation to the 

83 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


policemen. She came unhurriedly, with a smile 
of good cheer on her handsome face. But when 
she reached the living-room and looked on the 
twenty-seven figures variously clad and varying 
only in degrees of dolefulness, her smile involun- 
tarily broadened. 

‘‘ Oh, Gussie ! arose a cry as though the new- 
comer were a substantial straw to which the fire 
sufferers might cling. 

She stood in the doorway and surveyed them. 

Derelicts on the shores of Time,’^ was her greet- 
ing, and it was met with a faint smile. 

Now, girls,’' she began, “ I’m here to take you 
down to auntie’s to breakfast. No remonstrances 
will be heard.” She waved her hand good-na- 
turedly. '' It will be an informal breakfast, as we 
haven’t been preparing for it many days. You 
won’t find any place cards, just plain toast and 
coffee ” 

Oh, Gussie ! ” arose a second chorus, and the 
composite voice was more cheerful. Life began to 
appear livable with breakfast in sight. 

M. Gussie continued her instructions. You 
can go across these vacant lots back here and crawl 
under these horrid bill-boards and run across the 
street — and there you are ! ” 

Rebecca Bicknell stuck out her bedroom slippers. 

I can go in these. It’s not cold.” 

84 


TOO MUCH LIGHT ON THE SUBJECT 

Clara Pike shivered in a thin shirt-waist. I 
can run and keep quite warm/’ she decided. 

“ Before I started/’ M. Gussie continued, I 
took the liberty of telephoning to some of your 
alumnse ” 

I’m so glad ! ” cried Winifred. ‘‘ I can’t see a tele- 
phone here, and they ought to be the first to know.” 

M. Gussie nodded. ‘‘ I invited them to meet 
you all at auntie’s.” M. Gussie was not a member 
of Alpha Gamma. 

Gussie, you’re a darling ! ” cried Flossie, but it 
must be confessed that Flossie had the coming 
breakfast in mind more than the act of thought- 
fulness concerning the alumnae. Flossie was 
plump and habitually hungry. 

Two of the alumnae were to meet us anyway 
this morning,” Clara Pike spoke for the first time. 

They were all prepared to meet.” She wrinkled 
her nose thoughtfully and added vaguely, “ But I 
can’t recall what they were to meet for.” 

None of the seniors, in the ensuing exodus, 
recalled anything, so thoroughly had the fire 
eclipsed Mrs. Cregg. Across the vacant lot the 
girls scampered, under the bill-boards and up the 
broad steps of Mrs. Barker’s home, M. Gussie lead- 
ing. In the hall she turned and faced the delega- 
tion. Surveying again their grimy faces, she 
laughed outright. 


85 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


While there’s life, there’s soap, thank fortune,” 
she misquoted. Now for turns in the bath room, 
and then breakfast.” 

In an hour her guests felt better. The breakfast 
was soothing, and their welcome cordial from Mrs. 
Barker as well as her niece. Still, it was the most 
silent hour they had ever spent together. The 
absurdity of their costumes and of their actions 
made no appeal to them yet. 

Winifred sat at the head of the table which com- 
manded a view of the street. Presently she saw a 
carriage pass containing Mrs. Willow and Mrs. 
Bois. They were going first to the chapter house. 
An automobile fiashed past next filled with rather 
heavy eyed women. Then a large carriage and 
another auto, all on their way to the smoking 
sorority home. 

After breakfast, the girls repaired to the big 
living-room and sat down, still silent. Winifred 
drew a chair close to the window, and Rebecca Bick- 
nell sat at her feet, one arm over her knee. The 
Twisters stared into the open grate and consulted 
in mournful whispers concerning the furniture 
which they had hurled from the windows. 

I’m glad,” Erma whispered, “ that the most of 
it was too big to go through. Why did we do it ? ” 
Why did anybody do anything ? ” muttered 
Clara. ‘‘ It seemed to me at the time that we were 
86 


TOO MUCH LIGHT ON THE SUBJECT 

doing a very thoughtful job and doing it thor- 
oughly ! 

Erma giggled nervously, but Winifred’s solemn 
voice checked her : 

Girls, the alumnae have come — all of the house 
trustees.’’ 

They poured into the living-room, a dozen 
strong, talking animatedly until their eyes fell on 
the living-room’s occupants. The sight was de- 
cidedly exhilarating despite the solemnity of the 
occasion, and the dozen did the very best thing 
they could do, they burst out laughing. That 
laugh cleared the atmosphere and prepared the 
way for an informal discussion. 

Mrs. Willow, the president of the alumna 
chapter, sat down in a big armchair beside the 
door and threw open her coat, revealing a dainty 
blue silk dressing sack hastily donned. Now, 
girls,” she began cheerfully, accidents will hap- 
pen, and, although this is a rather big and dis- 
concerting one, we are not going to sit down and 
mope over it — not at all I ” 

The fire chief says,” said Mrs. Bois, that the 
fire started behind the bookcase. I wonder ” 

“ Oh, girls, those matches ! ” interrupted Wini- 
fred. We must have missed some of the 
matches.” 

Six pale faces were turned toward Mrs. Bois. 

87 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


I had lost a letter,’^ Lillian^s trembling lips 
almost refused to form the words, “and we searched 
for it with a candle 

“ And I knocked Cupid over and spilled his 
matches,” Belle’s tongue tripped with the haste of 
her confession. 

“ But we gathered them all up again,” objected 
Rebecca, “ and after the boys left Winifred looked 
again.” 

Then Winifred went back to the lost letter and 
told the story of the search and of the matches 
coherently. The writer of the letter escaped the 
attention of every one as the seniors looked at 
each other in consternation. 

The trustees also glanced at each other and then 
at the six pale faces. Then Mrs. Bois came to the 
rescue with a jolly, “ Well, girls, this isn’t the first 
time that Cupid’s matches have created trouble ! ” 

After the ensuing quavering laugh had subsided, 
Mrs. Willow spoke reassuringly : “ It is surely no 
one’s fault, and we are here to consider the result, 
not the cause.” 

But Winifred covered her face with her hands. 
“ I, as house stewardess, ought to have found all 
the matches,” she sobbed. 

Mrs. Bois and Mrs. Willow exchanged glances. 
Half a dozen protesting hands were reached toward 
the stewardess. 


88 


TOO MUCH LIGHT ON THE SUBJECT 

Who was it,” asked Mrs. Bois, “ who went 
back thoughtfully and closed all the doors up- 
stairs when the rest were going into the kitchen ? ” 
Winifred raised a surprised and tear-stained 
face. “ Why, I ” she stopped. 

The watchman reported your conduct I ” Mrs. 
Bois smiled, “ and the fact that the bedrooms are 
scarcely damaged by the smoke is due to that one 
thing. The watchman said he didn’t see how you 
came to think of it. He didn’t.” 

“ I didn’t think,” protested Winifred. I — I 

just did it. I had forgotten all about it.” 

“ I should never have got into any clothes if it 
hadn’t been for Winifred,” declared Flossie Rogers, 
an arm over Winifred’s shoulders. As her present 
array was somewhat scant, the whole being covered 
by her opera cloak, every one believed her. She 
had consented to leave her dictionary in the neigh- 
bor’s living-room. 

On the whole,” said Mrs. Willow presently, 
summing up the situation, this is not nearly so 
bad as it might have been. The library is, of 
course, gutted and completely ruined. The halls, 
both up and down stairs, will have to be refinished, 
and the contents of the parlors and dining-rooms 
are ruined by smoke and water. But the fire 
chief thinks the floors are not even weakened. 
Now is the time for the trustees to act on a plan 
89 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


we have been discussing for some years, remodel- 
ing the entire first fioor. Of course we start work 
in the face of a heavy loss because the furnishings 
are practically destroyed, but the insurance will 
be a starter and 

Here she paused, interrupted by Winifred Lowe. 
Winifred was on her feet, speaking deliberately, 
although a tear had made a damp trail over her 
face. ‘‘We seniors are really responsible for the 
fire,’^ she began. “ I feel especially guilty and I, 
for one, am not willing to let the burden fall 
wholly on our alumnae. I shall assume a share 
of the responsibility of replacing the furnishings 

somehow, someway 

A torrent of protest arose both from the alumnae 
and the girls. A dozen loving hands laid hold of 
the speaker’s dress and pulled its wearer down. 
A dozen loving voices stilled hers. But as she 
was pulled back into her seat Lillian Antwerp 
and Erma Cunningham were on their feet, fol- 
lowed by the rest of the seniors. Lillian spoke 
first in her usual lovable headlong fashion. 

“ Winifred is right about our responsibility, 
only we won’t let her pledge anything. She can’t 

afford it, and I can I I ” 

“ Winifred,” broke in Erma Cunningham has- 
tily, “ is not one whit more to blame than the rest 
of us. But I feel sure that we can find a way to 
90 


TOO MUCH LIGHT ON THE SUBJECT 

furnish the rooms. Why, I am willing to — to 
work out on Saturdays to help ! ” 

Me too I ” cried Clara Pike earnestly, and I 
can bake cake beautifully and make candy ! ” 

Mrs. Willow gained possession of the floor again 
with difficulty owing to the tears in her eyes and 
the smile on her lips. She turned to the other 
trustees. Ladies, the Alpha Gamma spirit of 
unselfish helpfulness is very much alive. IPs 
worth a fire to bring it so strongly to the surface. ’’ 
Then she spoke to the six seniors who had so 
readily shouldered their responsibilities, and con- 
tinued gently, “ All this, girls, we can leave to the 
future. Just at present, the only question which 
needs immediate settlement is, ^ Where shall we 
house you girls while the first floor is being re- 
modeled ? ^ ” 

As if in answer to this question, there arose 
from the street in front of the house the long- 
drawn, quavering shriek manipulated by Moses 
Carter^s “ shover.^’ Before it died away, Moses’ 
great voice was booming into the hall past the 
maid who held the door open. 

You tell Winifred Lowe that I want P see ’er. 
I want them Alphy Gammy seniors P get their 
duds together and come down P Cartersville with 
me. You tell ’em Sairy Mary says they’re P live 
in either house they want P till the cows come 

91 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


home ! It’ll give my shover something t’ do cart- 
ing them up here t’ school. Now, better not let 
the grass turn into hay before tellin’ ’em, because 
Sairy will have dinner ready in half an hour.” 


92 


CHAPTER VII 


THE TWO-FACED HOUSE 

Cartersville, with its four hundred acres, its 
blooded stock housed in handsome barns, its seven 
hired men with their neat little homes, its 
‘^shover’^ and the Two-Faced House, so named 
by the Alpha Gammas, stood at the end of the 
trolley line on the Lake Road, five miles from the 
city. 

The house occupied the point of the V made by 
the union of two branch highways, and was, as 
Rebecca said, unique in the history of the country. 
It represented several historical epochs as well as 
being an enduring monument to the ingenuity 
of its present owner. Its beginnings lay back 
among the mists of a century and a half ago. It 
was then a single house, one story high, built of 
stone blocks, a stronghold which had withstood 
many an attack from the Iroquois. During suc- 
ceeding years the Carters had added a second story 
and new furnishings, but retained the old as well. 

Moses Carter loved this ancient house, the home 
of his ancestors. Not so Sarah Mary. To her it 
was a heath-enish house, and not to be endured. 

93 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


This was a grief to Moses, who also loved Sarah 
Mary, she that was a Davis,’^ and since the time 
that she had been a Davis. But Mr. Carter, being 
gifted with a supple imagination and much money 
coined on the four hundred acres, had found a 
way out of the difficulty, and satisfied both him- 
self and Sarah Mary by building regardless a 
large modern house backed up squarely against 
the ancient structure which Lillian Antwerp rap- 
turously called “ prehistoric.” 

The modern house, glaringly white with bril- 
liant green trimmings, faced the left fork of the 
road from behind a wide piazza and a wide slop- 
ing lawn filled with flower beds in set patterns,” 
shell-rimmed. The “ prehistoric ” house, square 
and ugly, with its high narrow windows heavily 
shuttered, bare, piazzaless, faced the right fork of 
the road from the midst of an ancient and gloomy 
tangle of pines and evergreens that moaned and 
groaned and scraped to and fro over the jagged 
stone sides. From the right fork, the passer-by 
saw only a forest of evergreens surmounted by two 
immense chimneys and surrounded by a high 
rusty iron fence in the middle of which set a gate. 

In the modern house, Mrs. Betts held the reins 
of government. But when Moses was seized with 
a hunger for the house of his fathers, all that he 
was obliged to do was to open a door in a back 
94 


THE TWO-FACED HOUSE 


passage and enter the colonial mansion in whose 
enormous grates fires were kept burning. Here he 
was master as during his bachelor days. 

To this remarkable abode, on Saturday, jour- 
neyed six solemn seniors sitting in sorry state.^^ 
They were thus designated by the irrepressible 
Belle Eaton as they crowded into the tonneau of 
a huge red touring car. 

They were the last students to remove their pos- 
sessions from the chapter house. About the car 
clustered a group of young men with Landon 
Stearns, Sayles Cooper and Joseph Amherst Pierce 
in the foreground. For the dozenth time the girls 
were obliged to remind these three that not one of 
them could possibly be responsible for the fire. 
Then the chauffeur, with a goggled eye turned 
expectantly on the young men, moved his foot 
suddenly and sent into their midst the ear-split- 
ting shriek of the horn, and the car was off, leav- 
ing the boys so startled that only Joseph Amherst 
retained sufficient presence of mind to raise his 
hat. 

The car was followed by a “ lumber '' wagon 
piled high with trunks, suit-cases, umbrellas, hat 
boxes, hand-bags and books. Moses was traveling 
homeward on the trolley. 

From the chapter house to the city boundary 
no one spoke. Then Winifred quavered weakly : 

95 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


Fm glad the freshmen can board all together 
and have Mrs. Munroe with them.^’ 

I declare, Winifred,” shuddered Erma Cun- 
ningham, “ your voice sounds exactly as though 
we had attended their funeral.” 

No one smiled. 

As the car shot out on the smooth state road 
which led to Cartersville, Clara Pike heaved a 
great sigh. ‘‘ Yesterday I was planning a party 
dress to cover myself, and to-day I am planning to 
cover some of the new parlor furniture with it I ” 

“ Provided we get any to cover,” came from Re- 
becca Bicknell whose melancholy in this case was 
not induced by a too free consumption of chocolates. 

Girls,” said Belle Eaton hollowly, ‘‘ iPs lovely 
to have an unselfish spirit, but it’s awful to be 
obliged to exercise it so constantly I ” 

The bouncing of the tonneau had caused Belle’s 
hat to lurch ungracefully over one eye, but she 
did not realize it. She sat huddled up in a corner 
of the back seat with her arms around the bundle 
so kindly rescued by the fireman. 

The alumnae are angels not to blame us,” 
Clara Pike burst out. “Of course, we never in- 
tended to burn the house down, but as long as we 
nearly succeeded they have a right to be cross. 
Instead, they’ve spent their morning trying to 

make us feel comfortable ” 

96 


THE TWO-FACED HOUSE 


And yet I feel guilty clear down to my shoe 
soles, girls,” from Lillian, but I could endure 
that — knowing that I've got to feel that way all 
the rest of my life — if only I didn’t smell awfully 
of smoke ! ” 

Just then the car approached the forks of the 
road in Cartersville and the shover ” turned his 
head. From beneath enormous blue goggles and 
above a high coat collar came a laconic query. 
Which house ? ” ' 

Belle Eaton, surveying the goggled profile, whis- 
pered solemnly to the back seat, “ I see the ‘ naw- 
ful nose ! ’ ” but still no one smiled. Winifred di- 
rected, “ To Mrs. Carter’s house, please.” 

The “ nawful nose,” swollen and red, was 
pointed toward the front again, and the car raced 
up the drive circling the broad lawn that fronted 
the left fork. 

Somehow,” said Rebecca Bicknell standing up, 
“ I feel better already.” 

She was looking up at the house, which was 
drinking in the October sunshine at every one of 
its wide French windows. In each window hung 
a bird cage. Below the cage in the middle window 
sat a large cat licking its paws. Blooming gera- 
niums and drooping ferns occupied the back- 
ground. 

The door of the house opened leisurely and 
97 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


Sarah Mary Davis Betts Carter appeared. As Miss 
Davis, Sarah Mary had been a comely, dimpled, in- 
dependent young woman, well calculated to win 
the affection of a future Captain of Industry. As 
Mrs. Betts and now as Mrs. Carter, she had lost 
her dimples, but retained her independence. 

Her first remark was unexpected. “ Don’t one 
of you darst to bring such a look-ing face in-to 
this house. There’s things lots worse than fires, 
and you’ll find it out if you live to grow up I ” 

Mrs. Carter’s flesh being more abundant than 
her breath, she had a habit of breathing between 
syllables, thus giving to her speech a jerky effect. 

Winifred was the first to reach her, and before 
the violence of her hug, Sarah Mary’s knob of 
hair, which, each morning, was balanced by a 
single long pin on the summit of her large head, 
shifted its position to a spot above her left ear. As 
her other five guests made similar onslaughts, she 
retreated to the door gradually, laughing until the 
long-ago dimples became the centers of deep fur- 
rows which plowed through the flesh of her cheeks 
from ear to lips, and her hair slipped and slid all 
over the crown of her head. Arrived at the door, 
she put her back against it, planted her large cloth 
slippers firmly beneath her, and declared, while 
good-humored contradiction shone from her eyes : 

“ You’re all wel-come here to stay as long as you 


THE TWO-FACED HOUSE 


want-to if you come a-smilin\ But I can’t stand 
no long-faced girls a-round me.” 

The six looked at each other and at Sarah Mary 
and, led by Belle, indulged in a feeble laugh. 
This caused the door to be thrown open and an 
entrance was effected into the Two-Faced House, 
Mrs. Carter’s half of which her husband had 
built regardless,” with steam heat and electric 
lights and porcelain sinks and bath rooms and 
plush furnishings, all of which delighted her com- 
fort-loving soul. 

All the afternoon the girls were busy. Up-stairs 
and down they hurried settling their rooms, and 
adapting themselves to their new environments, 
intent on making the best of things. Rifts ap- 
peared in the feeling of guilt to which Lillian had 
foredoomed herself. Rifts also appeared in Re- 
becca’s melancholy, and in the forced unselfishness 
with which Belle Eaton would have the others be- 
lieve she had wrapped herself Belle’s acts were 
always more quietly unselfish than her words. 
Through these breaks in the clouds the sunshine 
streamed into the Two-Faced House, to the delight 
of Mrs. Carter and the satisfaction of Moses. 

Girls,” cried Lillian stopping before the fire- 
place in the colonial living-room, here’s where 
we will entertain our callers. Let’s dress up like 

Prudence, the Puritan Maiden and ” 

99 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


Priscilla, you mean,” interrupted Clara Pike 
who was examining the tall corner clock, ^‘Pris- 
cilla and John Alden you're thinking of — chiefly 
of John, only his name chances to be Sayles Cooper 
just at present. No man can say, however, how 
long it will be before the name changes.” Lillian’s 
social proclivities were marked. 

She now turned her back on Clara and con- 
tinued with dignity, “ As I was about to say, a 
simple white kerchief would be much cheaper 
than Irish crochet, and if I help with the chapter 
house it must come out of my clothes allowance, 
because papa told me before I left home that al- 
though we weren't really poverty stricken any 
more, I needn't be drawing on him for extra money 
this year.” She sighed virtuously. “ Papa isn't 
as public spirited as I wish he were I ” 

Clara Pike, being acquainted with the long-suf- 
fering father of his lovable daughter, chuckled. 
“Winifred Lowe, listen to that, will you ? — from 
Mr. Antwerp's only daughter ! ” 

Winifred, passing through the room with her 
arms piled high with clothing, only smiled with- 
out comment. Winifred was deeply troubled. 
The others did not realize how utterly the Are 
had revolutionized the course of her daily life. 
She climbed the back stairs to the room which 
she was to occupy with Belle Eaton, deposited the 
100 


THE TWO-FACED HOUSE 


clothes on the bed, and sat down beside the 
window to think. 

The window commanded a view of the barns in 
which Moses Carter gloried. Their weather-vanes 
designated the use to which each barn was put. 
From the top of a long and brilliantly yellow 
building, a gilded cow looked down. On top of a 
square red barn a prancing horse whirled around 
at the bidding of the breeze. Over a long, low, 
many windowed, shed-like structure, grass green 
in color, a white cock with extended wings kept 
guard. Between the barns and the house were 
the homes of the tenants. 

From one of these homes, as Winifred looked, 
the “ shover ” sauntered, and betook himself to 
the horse barn which temporarily housed the car. 
He was smoking a pipe, the smoke from which 
partially concealed the “ nawful nose bestowed 
on him by Newsy. He walked with a swagger as 
though the earth was his rightfully but by some 
mistake the deed had not yet come into his pos- 
session. His attitude and gait revealed the secret 
that he was not intimately acquainted with hard 
work. 

Winifred, rocking slowly back and forth in 
front of the window, followed his movements in an 
absent-minded fashion. She was thinking of the 
girls and the fire and her own dilemma. 

lOI 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


“ Here I am, the one who proposed that we as- 
sume the responsibility of the furnishings,^^ she 
thought, pillowing her round chin on her palm, 

and yet I’m the only one who can’t see the way 
clear to a contribution. I can’t give up a party 
dress, nor a fur coat nor a holiday trip because 
there hasn’t been even a remote prospect of my 
having any of them to give up and, then, there’s 
my board to pay now in addition.” 

At the chapter house, her duties as stewardess 
paid her board. 

She narrowed her eyes in perplexity. “ There’s 
just one thing sure — my contribution, as well 
as my board, must be raised through my own ef- 
forts.” 

She had been obliged to rely on her own efforts 
when other girls were wearing short dresses, and 
the necessity for action which always confronted 
her had sharpened her perceptions and deepened 
her sense of responsibility and broadened her 
sympathy until she had become a tower of 
strength among the more care-free girls of Alpha 
Gamma. 

There was a light tap on her door, and Lillian 
entered, her eyes very round and her white brows 
puckered. 

“ Winifred Lowe, guess what edict Mrs. Carter 
has just published.” 


102 


THE TWO-FACED HOUSE 

It's evidently something you didn't expect to 
hear." 

Lillian dropped on her knees beside Winifred's 
chair and rested her elbows on the arms. She's 
a dear, but I'm afraid that it will look to mamma 
as though we had virtually gone into the alms- 
house." 

Winifred's arm fell across Lillian's shoulders. 

Almshouse," she exclaimed. What do you 
mean ? " 

A smile broke over Lillian's face. Mrs. Carter 
says she will not be pes-tered with board-ers, but 
that she lots on company and we may stay all the 
year if so be we stay as company. Therefore, ac- 
cording to the law of the Medes and Persians 
which cannot be altered we're company. You 
know how sot in her ways Mrs. Carter is. We 
found that out while she was with us last year." 

Supper at six," announced Belle's voice out- 
side the door. Speedy attendance solicited. Vis- 
itors vindicated. Boarders rebuffed." 

Newsy's giggle reached the visitors as they ran 
down-stairs. Ain't it awful jolly havin' the girls 
here? " he asked Mr. Carter confidentially. 

He sat at the right hand of that captain, beam- 
ing on the girls, but never forgetting, in the inter- 
ests of the moment, that it was his business to 
‘‘ hustle " in order to supply the Hill with the 
103 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


Evening News. Mrs. Carter had gathered the 
boy in exactly as she had gathered in the half 
dozen homeless, friendless cats that ate in the 
wood-shed and slept in padded boxes. Every- 
thing small and motherless appealed to Mrs. 
Carter, especially Newsy. 

From the head of the table she complacently 
viewed her best dishes and fine linen. Her knob 
of hair rested decorously on the summit of her 
head. Her collar was roomy enough to receive 
her double chin. Her plaid gingham dress was 
the same she had donned when she arose that 
morning. Sarah Mary was one for comfort on 
all occasions, as she announced. 

When Lillian and Winifred entered the dining- 
room she was still explaining the law of the Medes 
and Persians. IVe always said I wouldn’t take 
no board-ers and I don’t in-tend to go back on my 
word at my time of life. But if you girls can put 

up with what little we have here ” 

Newsy’s eyes expanded. He went off like a 
bomb. Little ! Golly ! Why, we set down to 
such a lay-out every meal. I git s’ full nights that 
I can’t hardly git up on the Hill sometimes.” 

Moses silently nodded approval. Mrs. Carter 
frowned, although her voice showed no displeasure 
as she remarked, ^ Little boys should be seen and 
not heard.’ ” 

104 


THE TWO-FACED HOUSE 


I^s afeard,” Newsy subsided mutteringly, “ that 
they’d believe you I ” 

“ Buf,” continued Mrs. Carter to her guests, if 
so be you can put up with us as you find us, you’re 
welcome to live here as long as you come a-smiling. 
That I say and that I mean.” 

Might as well save your breath,” proclaimed 
Mr. Carter proudly in the face of renewed protesta- 
tions. Once Sairy Mary says a thing, you can’t 
move her.” 

She leaned back and dropped small bits of meat 
into the mouth of Pete, the only cat who had the 
freedom of the house. ‘‘ It seems to me,” she went 
on, that if you’re so bound to pay out for board 
you can put it a-side for that chapter house re-pairs 
you are talking about.” 

“ Girls, listen ! ” cried Belle although they were 
intent on nothing else. That’s the very idea ! 
Our parents dear are expecting to pay our board 
right along ” 

Even papa thinks nothing of doing that ! ” 
interrupted Lillian. What a fine nest egg that 
will be.” 

“ That’s the identical reason that Mrs. Carter is 
so prejudiced against taking boarders,” accused 
Clara Pike. It’s just to help us out.” 

Lillian stacked up her dishes deftly and started 
toward the kitchen. At least, girls, we can work 
105 


A SENIOR CO-ED 

for our board. I can dust and wash dishes beau- 
tifully.’' 

Mrs. Carter pushed her chair away from the 
table and laughingly gathered Pete into her arms. 
“ You can mess a-round with the supper dishes if 
you want t’, and I’ll stay in here, but it’s the on-ly 
time I’ll con-sent to your going into the kitch-en. 
I’ve got my reg-ular help, that comes mornings, 
and that’s all I can stand. I want my kitch-en 
kept pretty clear of folks. I take up some room 
my-self.” 

Give me paper and pencil, some one,” com- 
manded Rebecca, sitting on the corner of the 
kitchen table. ‘‘ I want to add up our board bills 
and multiply by — how long shall we probably stay 
here ? It will be six times ” 

Winifred, leaning over the dish-pan, swallowed 
hard and made no correction. To herself she said. 
It shall be six times yet, because I shall find a 
way to add the amount of board for the sixth I ” 
To no one else did Mrs. Carter’s hospitality mean 
as much as to her. 

For a few moments there was silence while 
Rebecca jotted down figures, frowned, added, 
frowned again, and then burst out as she surveyed 
the result : 

“Girls, I begin to be appalled at this project. 
Do you know that if we stay here two months our 
io6 


THE TWO-EACED HOUSE 


united board money will not amount to two 
hundred dollars ? And what is two hundred 
toward furnishing a first fioor ? 

That would buy enough chairs for us to sit on/' 
suggested Lillian hopefully, splashing in the dish- 
pan, “ and we can exercise faith and hints for the 
rest of the things ! " 

‘‘ I prefer ^works to hints,” retorted Clara Pike 
loftily. 

‘‘ What works have you in view ? ” inquired 
Lillian crisply. 

Nothing except the baking of cake. As I said 
this morning ” 

Mr. Carter's booming voice interrupted. He 
appeared in the dining-room doorway. He had 
been an interested and amused listener. '‘Adver- 
tise a cake sale in the colonial house, then, why 
don't ye ? That house would be a drawing card in 
the city. The society folks are as bound to git into 
it as the Daughters of the Revolution are to git it. 
The house would draw and the cake would draw. 
You're welcome to make money off 'n 'em both.” 

Dish-washing was suspended. With hopeful 
exclamations the girls turned to Clara. 

“ It takes me two hours to make and bake one 
cake,” she confessed hurriedly, “ and then I'm not 
absolutely sure of the result. Don't advertise a 
cake sale with me as a foundation.” 

107 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


‘‘ There’s one thing certain,” from Rebecca, still 
scanning the figures ; we must either do things 
or sacrifice things.” 

Winifred, a tureen in one hand and a drying 
towel in the other, looked fixedly at Mr. Carter’s 
inquiring face, her thoughts focussed on his idea. 
‘‘ That ought to lead to something,” she muttered 
beneath her breath. 

Setting the tureen on the table, she attempted 
to fit a dinner plate over it in place of the cover, 
while Mr. Carter, chuckling, retired, according to 
his evening custom, to the heathenish house, tak- 
ing care, however, to leave open the door which 
separated him from Sarah Mary. 

Swinging wide the outer double doors, he sent 
his voice booming into the night. Here, Slav I 
Here, you Turk ! Where be you, ye rascals ? ” 

As the rascals ” were already wagging their 
tails at his feet, he admitted them, kicked the logs 
in the fireplace into leaping flames and drew up a 
great “ sleepy-hollow ” chair before the blaze and 
also near to a big desk wherein reposed the ac- 
counts incidental to running four hundred acres 
and seven hired men. Sitting well down on the 
middle of his spine he kicked off his boots and 
presented his red yarn stockings to the heat, glanc- 
ing about the capacious room with the pride of 
possession illuminating his cherubic face. Was he 
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THE TWO-FACED HOUSE 


not the owner of a house which the Daughters of 
the Revolution coveted, and the city fathers them- 
selves longed to take possession of for the benefit 
of the public, and which was still owned by Moses 
Carter, Captain of the Farming Industry ! 

Presently, hearing the girls in the other living- 
room, he arose, traveled across the bare floor in his 
stocking feet and opening the door, pulled the 
handle of the bell, chuckling at the result. Of all 
the ‘‘ heath-enish devices of which her husband 
was guilty, that bell was the most heathenish, ac- 
cording to Sarah Mary. The bell itself was located 
beneath the floor, and produced a thunder which 
echoed and reechoed through the two houses. 

“ I thought that would fetch ye,’^ Moses re- 
marked complacently as the girls came trooping 
in. “ Here's your popper and fire and nuts and 
hammers. Now git to work. Here, Slav, you 
igiot, let that girl's dress be I It's made t' look 
pretty and not t' chew. I've got t' git rid of these 
dogs," he grumbled, sliding down once more in the 
sleepy-hollow. I've got too much useless live 
stock around the premises to feed now — especially 
since I hired that fool shover. Here, Turk, you 
come over here and show yer bringing up. Down 
with ye ! " 

At five minutes of eight peace, but not quiet, 
reigned in the colonial house. As the great 
109 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


mahogany timepiece chimed out the hour, neither 
peace nor quiet continued to reign. Lillian, who, 
sitting on the stone hearth, was wielding a ham- 
mer successfully, sometimes on her thumb and 
sometimes on the hickory-nuts, suddenly uttered 
a nerve-shattering cry : 

“Oh, girls, everybody has forgotten Mrs. Gregg I” 

“ Mrs. Gregg ! shrieked Belle Eaton nearly 
falling off a stool on which she was standing wind- 
ing the tall old clock under its owner’s direction. 

And, “ Mrs. Gregg I ” cried the Twisters in uni- 
son, their tones of horror somewhat choked by 
popcorn. They sat on a great mahogany daven- 
port beneath a battered and ancient lantern which 
had lighted the solitary way of many a Revolu- 
tionary Father. 

“ Oh, my goodness gracious ! Mrs. Gregg I 
Rebecca Bicknell’s voice was indicative of sudden 
mental limpness. 

Winifred scrambled to her feet. “ We must 
telephone to Mrs. Willow. How could we all for- 
get her — with Monday only two days off! She 
may come Monday.^^ 

Mr. Garter drew in his feet and sat up with in- 
quiry on his lips as well as his brow. “Just 
opened the closet door onto a skeleton, have ye? 
Who might this awful Mrs. Gregg be ? ” 

Half an hour later Lillian called Mrs. Willow 


no 


THE TWO-FACED HOUSE 


on the telephone, and found that lady prepared to 
call her, their messages centering around the same 
person, whom Mrs. Willow had remembered earlier 
in the day. 

No,'' said Lillian, the Carters say we shall 
entertain her right here in this Two-Faced House. 
Mrs. Carter says we can eat her and sleep her 
without any trouble ! " — the quotation rang gayly 
over the wire — so that is settled. Yes, we shall 
let you know the moment she gets here. No, we 
are not worrying ourselves sick over the fire, but 
we are cudgeling our brains for money — making 

ideas Oh, yes, we shall do our part I And, 

Mrs. Willow, what do you think ? We have enough 
money in view to buy the chairs ! The Carters 
really gave it, for they will not accept any pay for 
our board. Of course it's lovely. I voted for 
chairs myself, but, on second thought, we're so 
used to sitting on the floor that I think we better 
get rugs first." 


Ill 


CHAPTER VIII 


THE HEN HUSSY ’’ 

It was Sunday afternoon and, in the midst of a 
warm rain, the Two-Faced House lay in slumber. 
The only active member of the household was 
Newsy. On Sundays, Newsy’s mode of life under- 
went a marked change. He scrubbed his face 
twice, went to church once, and carefully refrained 
from hustling. Usually he spent a large share of 
the afternoon in the horse barn petting a hand- 
some colt which was his exclusive property, pre- 
sented to him by Mr. Carter. Its maintenance 
was also provided by that industrial captain. 
Newsy and Jim having no use for each other at 
present, the former deemed it best to wait until the 
hired men were about before repairing to the barns. 
Therefore, he was present in Mrs. Carter’s house to 
receive a caller who sauntered in, shed her rain- 
coat and umbrella and asked for Winifred Lowe. 

Her room’s last one on the hall,” Newsy gave 
information, but she mebby is asleep. I never 
seen such sleepy heads as they is here Sunday 
afternoons. Even Mr. Carter he sleeps.” 

II2 


THE ^^HEN HUSSr^* 


“ So I hear/^ rejoined the caller meaningly as 
variegated sounds fell on their ears from the colo- 
nial living-room. Any one fortunate enough to 
own a sleepy-hollow chair of the original make can 
afford to snore in it.’’ 

A moment later a soft voice in front of Wini- 
fred’s door asked, May she that was Louise 
Wallace enter? ” 

There was a sudden scramble within, the door 
flew open and Winifred laid affectionate hands on 
the former Wallace. 

Louise paused on the threshold and elevated her 
nose inquiringly, quoting sepulchrally, ‘ The 
deeds that men do live after them ’ — at least the 
odor of the deeds ! Whew ! ” 

“ Will our clothes ever smell clothy again ? ” 
asked Belle Eaton from the bed where she lay in 
the pale blue kimono. 

Winifred curled up at her feet, and Louise took 
possession of the deep window sill, saying consol- 
ingly : “ Yes — when they’re nearly worn out ! 

Talk now, girls. I want to know it all.” 

'‘Well, I know one thing!” exclaimed Belle 
energetically. “ I know it’s our duty to feel blue 
and miserable, but the Two-Faced House is so de- 
lightful I just can’t 1 ” 

Louise laughed. “ Guess what Ashley’s first 
remark was when he heard of the catastrophe.” 

113 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


Belle plumped up her pillows. Don^t ask me 
to fathom the mind of man. Ask Winifred here. 
She^s had more experience.^^ 

Winifred flushed slightly and shook her head. 

‘‘ He whistled/' volunteered Louise, and then 
said, ‘ Now what effect will that have on the com- 
ing of Mrs. Cregg? ' " 

“ No effect. We are going to begin meeting her 
on Monday," laughed Winifred and explained her 
meaning. 

Presently Belle broke in on Winifred's account 
of the Are. She raised on her elbow and shook a 
Anger at Louise. Please tell your husband to 
tell the other trustees that we burned out the 
chapter house in the interests of the college. 
Yes, we did ! and if you have studied logic you can 
follow the course in reasoning yourself. We de- 
cided to entertain Mrs. Cregg because of Hunting- 
don's yearning for the society of Billy X. Y. Z. 
That brought the letter which caused the search 
which caused me to upset Cupid which spilled the 
matches " 

She ceased because her audience had their 
fingers stuffed into their ears. When they had 
consented to listen once more she dropped back on 
the pillows ending coolly, I want the trustees to 
know the truth, because we seniors have taken it 
on ourselves not only to entertain Mrs. Cregg, but 
114 


THE ^^HEN HUSSr^' 


to refurnish the first floor of the chapter house, 
and I didn^t know but Mr. Grey could work on 
their tender hearts to the amount of a few hun- 
dreds ! 

As Winifred was accompanying Louise down the 
stairs, the latter said remonstratingly, Surely, 
Winifred, you are not going to saddle yourself 
with any more financial responsibility this year. 
You owe it to your health not to take on any 
more hours in the office 

Winifred shook her head. No, Louise, IVe 
decided not to attempt any more sedentary work 
— I am indoors enough as it is. But — here she 
smiled mischievously — Ifll not say what I’m 
going to do until after I have talked with Mr. 
Carter.” 

Don’t forget,” remarked Louise carelessly as 
she donned her raincoat, ^Uhat you’re to rent me 
your wits along the lines of original entertain- 
ment. You’ll get your reward. Dear me ! How 
I do dread to pay my formal social debts. I 
wonder if all beginning housekeepers feel that 
way ! ” 

The following morning before starting for the 
Hill, Winifred went through the passage which 
connected the two houses, and rapped on the door. 
It was closed, a sign that the Captain of Industry 
was engaged at his desk. 

115 


A SENIOR CO-ED 

“ Come,” boomed his voice, and Winifred 
entered. 

The wife of one of the tenants had charge of the 
old house, and already the floor was swept, the 
hearth cleaned, and the Are roaring. At their 
master’s feet lay Slav and Turk, each with an in- 
quiring ear turned in his direction and a slender 
nose aquiver. Before the desk, his brow and lips 
twisted agonizingly, sat Moses Carter laboring 
diligently with his pen. 

Mr. Carter, may I waste a few moments of 
your time ? I want to do some talking.” 

“ Sho fly, now ! So do 1 1 ” All the lines in 
Mr. Carter’s face converged in the interrogation 
point on his forehead. What is it they say ? 
‘ Two minds with a single idear betwixt ’em,’ ’r 
some such truck. You Are ahead first. Ye know 
pretty blamed well what it is I want t’ say ! ” He 
leaned forward, his cherubic face wreathed in 
smiles. This fire was fixed t’ order on my ac- 
count, I do believe.” 

*‘Oh!” ejaculated Winifred in sudden enlight- 
enment. The immediate object of Mr. Carter’s 
ambitions had escaped her memory temporarily. 

He slapped his leg in glee. “ Yes-sir-ee ! I 
hain’t spoke about it before to give ye a chance 
t’ rest up and git your wits t’ workin’. But here 
you are, and the fact that ye are handy ought to 


THE ‘‘HEN HUSSr^^ 


knock Sairy Mary’s last hindrance high and crazy. 
It ought t’ give me a chance t’ put Betts away in 
the shade.” Moses had entirely forgotten that Wini- 
fred was to speak first. How soon now can you 
get busy on that tower? October is the best time 
for New York. She won’t roast and she won’t 
freeze. Last winter she wouldn’t budge because 
of its bein’ near zero. In the spring she wouldn’t 
budge because of the house cleanin’. In the sum- 
mer? No, sir — too hot. And all the time no one 

t’ take care of the house ” Moses slid down 

in his chair, slapped his leg until the dust flew, 
and laughed noiselessly. Now it ain’t zero, there 
ain’t no house cleanin’, it ain’t hot and you’re here 
t’ look after the house. Strikes me the last hin- 
drance has been pulled from under her.” 

Poor Mrs. Carter,” laughed Winifred who 
knew that the “ hindrances ” all had root in Mrs. 
Carter’s love of home and cloth slippers and roomy 
clothes unsuited to traveling. But I shall do all 
I’m able to send her on that wedding trip.” 

You can do it,” declared Mr. Carter, adding 
with sudden thoughtfulness, that is, if anybody 
can ! ” 

Then he suddenly recalled the fact that Wini- 
fred was there to say something. He sighed, and, 
dismissing the subject of a v/edding tour, bent over 
to admire a pair of new shoes. He was as proud of 
117 


A SENIOR CO-ED 

his personal appearance as Sarah Mary was indif- 
ferent to hers. 

Speak out now/^ he commanded genially. 
“ The owner of four hundred acres and not half 
enough hired men hainT got a thing on earth to 
do but listen. Here I be payin’ that shover of 
mine to set around and eat and I can’t find time 
to keep ’im on the go. I’ll look t’ you girls t’ do 
that. I’m willing t’ pay, but I want t’ see the 
one that’s gitting it to step lively for his money.” 
Moses settled himself back yet more comfortabl3\ 
“ I keep on the move myself from mornin’ to 
night, and that’s more’n I can say of any one 
around me except Sairy Mary.” Here he chuckled. 

She moves too much.” 

He lifted one foot, ran a finger over the raised 
toe approvingly, and stretching out his leg viewed 
the effect of the shoe at a distance, adding : 

Well, now, what’s bothering you?” 

Briefly Winifred stated her case. You see,” 
she ended, I feel that I must contribute as much 
to the fund as the others do because I was the one 
who proposed it. I could do more work for the 
chancellor, but that would keep me over a desk 
more than is good for me. I could do housework, 
but Mrs. Carter has all the kitchen wheels run- 
ning in such good order that I would prove only 
a brake on them there ” 

ii8 


THE ^^HEN HUSST'^ 


Mr. Carter interrupted. All you need do is 
t’ fix things up for that tower 

Winifred shook her head determinedly. “ I 
shall do what I’m able in that direction, as I told 
you, but that’s in the future. I want work now.” 
She broke into a smile. You say you haven’t 
half ' hands ’ enough, and when I looked over 
your barns and saw the milk bottles to be washed 
and the cans, and the thousand and one things to 
do here that the wives and daughters of your ten- 
ants do, it occurred to me that there might be 
some work left over for me — that I might become 
one of your ^ hands,’ and use mine literally, in- 
stead of making use so constantly of my head.” 

Moses Carter wordlessly slid a little farther 
down on his spine. He drew in his feet and 
tucked them beneath his chair. His interest in 
his new foot gear was temporarily gone. He 
chuckled, ducking his head down between his 
shoulders. Then he emerged to take a long look 
at Winifred. He glanced at her slender white 
fingers, her fair head and delicate face — too deli- 
cate it had appeared for several months now — and 
her slender figure. Then he crowded his feet 
further beneath him and slapped his leg delight- 
edl}^ gasping, “ A farm-hand — you ! Wall, I’ll 
be dog-gonned ! ” 

Suddenly his laughter ceased. His forehead 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


began to work inquiringly. A thoughtful expres- 
sion dawned on his cherubic face. 

Winifred, watching, gently probed. ^‘What 
work is there to do now ? 

• He ran his fingers through his hair causing it 
to stick up inquiringly above the interrogation 
point on his brow. Taters t’ dig ! he remarked 
tentatively. 

“I could pick them up,’’ countered Winifred 
stoutly. 

Moses’ head sank between his shoulders once 
more. ‘‘ Apples t’ pick,” he grinned. 

“ I’ve been out looking at the trees. I could 
pick from the ground on the up-hill side, and it 
would be delightful work.” 

Mr. Carter’s grin became a rumbling chuckle. 

Corn t’ husk.” 

Winifred shook her head decidedly. “ That I 
couldn’t do.” 

Suddenly, Moses smoothed out his face, and 
straightened his spine. Sticking out a foot once 
more he began viewing it from all sides, his lips 
pursed ready for a whistle. 

Stiddy, now I ” he commanded genially. Hold 
yer bosses ! There is a lot of regular work that I 

believe Hum, yes, it’s dirty, but not hard.” 

He paused inquiringly. 

'' I don’t mind the dirt,” declared Winifred with 
120 


THE ^^HEN HUSSr*' 


a stubborn curve of her lips. “ I^m bound to do 
it if it comes within my strength — and capacity.^' 

Mr. Carter nodded. “ Grit — hum, yes. She 
goes at things bound to get ^em done.’^ He was 
addressing the flames. “ Stick-to-it-ness, and some 
interest in the business. That’s it. She’ll fill that 
bill.” 

He smoothed down his hair and crossed his 
knees wagging the extended foot merrily at the 
fire. Think you’d like to take care of the Orping- 
tons ? ” 

Orpingtons ? ” Winifred asked wonderingly. 
'' What are they ? ” 

Moses scratched his head. They’re critters 
that are hatched out of eggs at ten dollars a dozen 
and only half of the pesky things hatch at that. 
That’s what Orpingtons are 1 ” 

Hens,” exclaimed Winifred enlightened. I 
should love to take care of hens ! ” She rose 
enthusiastically. “ Show me where they are and 
tell me what I’m to do.” 

Mr. Carter selected a pair of gum shoes ” from 
beneath his desk, and pulled them on while he 
explained : “ Mis’ Breiman has been taking care 
of ’em, but since she’s got the shover to board, she 
don’t take s’ kindly t’ hens and she’ll be glad 
enough to shunt ’em off onto you.” 

Opening a drawer in his desk he produced a 
121 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


key from a large collection. Mis^ Breiman has 
one, and so have I. We’ll use this now, and then 
you can get hers and keep it by you.” 

As the two started toward the hen-houses. Newsy 
appeared on the scene, steppin’ lively ” toward 
school. He carried an arithmetic and a reader. 
These two books represented to him those branches 
of learning most actively used in the business 
world, therefore, they commanded his unlimited 
patience. 

John,” called Mr. Carter, who’d ye think’s 
going t’ take care of the hens? ” 

Newsy’s feet stopping more suddenly than his 
head, he was obliged to turn a rapid handspring 
in order to reestablish his equilibrium. He came 
up yelling, “ What ! Her ? ” 

Yes, her,” boomed Mr. Carter. She’s t’ be 
the hen hussy on these premises.” 

Newsy planted his feet well apart and drew his 
sleeve across his nose. His eyes opened widely. 

I bet she does better’n Mis’ Breiman and Jim.” 

Mr. Carter turned at the word repeating inquir- 
ingly, Jim ? ” 

‘‘ Yep, Jim. When Mis’ Breiman hain’t time 
she sends Jim t’ feed ’em.” 

A moment later the owner of the blooded and 
cultured Orpingtons was conducting their new 
attendant through their home. 

123 


THE <^HEN HUSSr^^ 


<< Why/^ exclaimed Winifred standing in the 
doorway, this is a regular hen palace ! 

Moses stuffed his hands into his pockets and 
assented proudly. Built it this summer regard- 
less. IVe tried blooded cattle and blooded sheep 
and blooded every other kind of animal except 
hens. This spring I says t' Sairy Mary, ‘ If blood 
amounts to anything why not in eggs,' and so I 
hatched these Orpingtons. Now here's their parlor. 
See ? Here's where they scratch for their grain. 
Here's a hoe. Every morning you'll have to hoe 
this sawdust back and scatter this measureful of 
grain over the floor and then hoe the sawdust back 
over the grain. Then the critters have got t' scratch 
for it. Can you manage a hoe ? " 

I should be ashamed of myself if I couldn't," 
declared Winifred determinedly. 

Carefully she followed directions. Carefully she 
examined the water pans, the nests, the roosts, the 
yard, the feed, all of which was to be handled ac- 
cording to the best poultry advices. Having fin- 
ished directions Mr. Carter opened the door of an 
old-fashioned hen-house opening into the one built 
regardless " and said with a twinkle in his eyes : 
These are the old white Leghorns. Jest feed 
'em all they can stuff, and water 'em all they can 
drink. They lay the eggs." 

He was interrupted by a shriek from the auto- 
123 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


mobile horn and Lillian’s distant voice. Wini- 
fred Lowe 1 Winifred Lowe ! The auto is here, 
and we must tell the boys about meeting the 
trains.” 

Belle, Lillian and Winifred were the only girls 
journeying Hill-ward on Monday morning, and to 
them Winifred at once laughingly but enthusias- 
tically related the fact that she was to be Mr. Car- 
ter’s “ hen hussy.” Lillian nearly fell into the 
tonneau head first at the news, and Belle sat down 
before she intended to, the exclamation, Good- 
ness gracious, Winifred Lowe ! ” being jerked out 
of her mouth by a too sudden contact with the 
seat. 

The chauffeur paused with one hand on the 
horn. The girls were seated, but he did not start. 
His head was turned, an intent ear directed toward 
the tonneau. His goggles concealed his eyes and 
obliterated the expression on his face. His naw- 
ful nose ” was nearly healed. 

“ I’m to take care of the Orpingtons and Leg- 
horns. Orpingtons are ten dollars per dozen in 
the shell,” laughed Winifred. Then, with a sur- 
prised glance at the shover, We are all here that 
are going, Jim.” 

The intent ear was covered at once by the flap 
of Jim’s cap, and the car moved forward, while 
Lillian and Belle remonstrated with Winifred and 
124 


THE ^^HEN HUSSr^^ 


laughed at her in turn until Lillian was smitten 
with the desire to perform manual labor herself. 

“ I could pick apples,” she announced scanning 
the low trees on a steep hillside below which the 
road curved. '' It would be fun. I’m sure mamma 
wouldn’t object to that, because it’s so fashionable 
now this getting back to the ground.” 

Belle twisted her neck until she could view the 
hillside properly. It looks to me as though one 
misstep up there would bring you to the ground a 
little faster than fashion prescribes.” 

“ ‘ Shoemaker, stick to your last,’ ” quoted Win- 
ifred impressively. You will throw your light 
further socially, Lillian, than as a hen hussy or 
apple gatherer.” 

Lillian’s only reply was to lean forward and 
speak to the chauffeur. “ Jim, don’t you ever dare 
shriek that horn out of Mr. Carter’s hearing, 
please. It’s more than my nerves can endure, es- 
pecially after the fire.” 

I’ll remember,” promised Jim reluctantly. 

It was half-past ten when the auto swept up 
the curved driveway and halted in front of the 
Hall of Languages. The halls were densely popu- 
lated at that hour, and the campus dotted with 
students hurrying to and from classes. From the 
chapter houses and boarding-houses that lined 
College Road, they came. Only one house failed 
125 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


to send out its accustomed quota, and toward it 
the trio looked mournfully. It was already in the 
hands of workmen, and the sound of timbers be- 
ing rent from timbers reached them faintly. 

There was a lump in Winifred’s throat as she 
followed the other two up the broad steps and into 
the hall, where they were at once surrounded by 
questioning, sympathizing students. 

Flossie Rogers, making her way through the 
throng, fell on Lillian. Isn’t it awful for Alpha 
Gamma to be all broken up and separated this 
way ? ” she whispered. Don’t you feel dreadful ? ” 

^‘I feel,” murmured Lillian, casting about rap- 
idly for a proper simile, “ like an exploded air 
bubble ! ” 

Flossie did not laugh. Life was wearing too 
serious an aspect to her. If you boarded where 
we do you would say that every day. Our land- 
lady economizes. She advises us to chew well and 
get all the flavor out of our victuals, but as Punch 
says. How are we to subtract a minus quantity 
from a minus quantity and have any flavor left ! ” 

Here some one carried the repining Flossie 
away, and the three seniors made their way up 
two flights of stairs and toward three young men 
who awaited them. 

“ Ten to one,” Joseph Amherst Pierce was mut- 
tering, those girls have forgotten all about meet- 
126 


THE ^^HEN HUSSr^^ 


ing us here/^ Then he caught a glimpse of the 
wing on Lillian’s hat. 

The wearer, glancing up, smiled and bowed, her 
lips forming the name, “ Mrs. Cregg.” 

In a few moments more, she stood with Wini- 
fred and Belle beside a window at the end of the 
hall deep in consultation with the boys. 

We have time-tables and have marked all the 
trains on* which she can come,” began Landon. 
“ And here are a lot of evening trains where we 
fellows can help you out. Either go alone after 
her or with you girls.” He glanced tentatively at 
Winifred. 

We’ll be glad enough to have your help,” she 
returned. Lillian is going to meet the first train 
in from Albany this afternoon. Miss Bicknell is 
going to the Lackawanna at four and then that 
Central at nine to-night ” 

Put me down for that to-night,” spoke up 
Joseph Amherst promptly. And now. Miss 
Antwerp, it’s up to you to describe this intellec- 
tual prodigy so we can spot her at a single glance.” 

Lillian began her description with an enthusi- 
astic, She’s perfectly lovely, boys.” 

In what shades ? ” demanded Landon Stearns. 

White and gray,” replied Lillian with unex- 
pected promptness. She has a very white com- 
plexion and gray hair. She’s about as tall as I 
127 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


am, maybe a little taller and maybe a bit shorter. 
I didn’t notice.” 

“ H’m,” mused Joseph Amherst Pierce, looking 
unenlightened, Lillian being medium in height. 
“ What about her breadth ? ” 

Why-ee — she’s a little stouter than I am, but 
not much — but she is lovely, and you’ll say so 
when you see her.” 

“ But the point is to see her before she sees more 
of Huntingdon than is agreeable, unescorted,” in- 
terposed Landon. Tell us about her face — has 
it any prominent features, any that we can spot 
at once and say with certainty, ^ There stands Mrs. 
Cregg — hip hurra I ’ 

Lillian rubbed her shapely nose pensively and 
disregarded Landon’s levity. Yes, her face is 
very sweet. It’s about as big as Winifred’s and 
it’s white — very white without being pale ” 

Here Belle Eaton threw out her hands in 
despair. If we could only strike something dis- 
tinctive,” she cried. “ Lillian, give us one dis- 
tinctive thing about Mrs. Cregg.” 

And Lillian answered sweetly and enthusias- 
tically, She’s the dearest woman ! ” 

But her manner and her gait,” urged Winifred 
as she had urged many times before. “ Hasn’t 
she some peculiarity of manner or carriage? ” 

“ Yes,” from Sayles Cooper, how does she act ? ” 
128 


THE ^^HEN HUSSr^* 


“ Very ladylike/’ responded Lillian firmly. 
“ She has quiet, unobtrusive manners — very un- 
noticeable in a crowd.” 

Joseph Amherst Pierce groaned. '‘I’m sorry,” 
he murmured. “ If only she strode or had a loud 
voice or a game eye or dressed ” He inter- 

rupted himself eagerly, “ How does she dress?” 

“ In subdued colors,” replied Lillian, “just like 
herself. Why — can’t you just see her ? ” 

“ May the gods direct us,” murmured Landon, 
“ for Miss Antwerp certainly cannot ! ” 

Up the stairs came M. Gussie Barker and beside 
her Beau Brown. Making her way to the window 
M. Gussie announced gravely in the subdued tones 
which she was persistently cultivating : 

“ Lillian Antwerp, there is a gentleman on the 
second floor who wishes to see you as soon as pos- 
sible.” 

Lillian drew herself up in injured dignity. 
“The very idea ! Who is he? Does he expect 
me to go to him ? ” Lillian’s tone emphasized the 
preposterousness of the idea. 

The Beau grinned behind his hand. M. Gussie 
maintained her gravity. “ He does. He asked 
me to tell you so.” 

Lillian’s face became a study in wrath as she 

broke out, “ If he wants to see me Who is 

it, anyway, Gussie?” 


129 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


‘‘ It’s the chancellor,” hazarded Winifred, her 
eyes on Beau Brown. 

“ How mean not to tell me ! ” A smile dis- 
pelled Lillian’s wrath, and leaving Mrs. Gregg’s 
appearance unexplained, and dragging Winifred 
with her, she flew through the crowd and down 
the stairs. 

Landon looked after them, his lips puckered. 

All that’s left for us to do is to meet the trains, 
cut out all the white-haired women, round ’em up 
and ask if they are known at home as Mrs. Gregg. 
So few white-haired women travel alone that we 
can get ’em all.” 

At that moment a gong sounded loudly and 
persistently through the halls. The doors of the 
lecture rooms opened, disgorging one throng and 
receiving another. The group in front of the 
window dissolved. As the boys were making 
their way down the hall, Sayles Gooper thought 
of something. 

‘‘ By the way, fellows, I can’t help out except 
on the early evening trains. I’m booked for the 
Alpha Gamma house as night watchman.” 

Down in the chancellor’s office, in front of his 
desk, stood Winifred and Lillian assuring the in- 
terested head of the institution that the chapter 
house disaster would not affect in the least the 
coming of Mrs. Gregg. 


130 


CHAPTER IX 


UNCOVEKING TKAILS 

At three o’clock Monday afternoon Winifred 
arose from her desk in the chancellor’s office and 
pinned the blue hat on her fluffy yellow hair. 
Her work on the Hill was finished for the day, 
and her thoughts turned toward Cartersville and 
her poultry. 

Before the bulletin-board on the first floor stood 
a tall, broad-shouldered, dark-haired young man, 
studying the notices intermittently, his face turned 
toward the stairs every time he heard a step. 
When Winifred appeared, he had, to judge from 
the expression on his face, heard the step he had 
been listening for. Whirling on his heel he left a 
notice half read and joined her. 

Where now ? ” 

“ To feed the Orpingtons.” 

Landon Stearns grinned. Winifred had ex- 
plained earlier in the day the uselessness of these 
fowls, and her connection with them. The reason 
for that connection she had not explained. 

Landon regarded her suspiciously as they crossed 

131 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


the campus together. There’s something in the 
wind about those hens that you haven’t told me,” 
he accused. 

Winifred looked teasingly into the dark eyes 
level with the crown of her blue hat. “‘Little 
boys should be seen and not heard,’ ” she quoted. 
“ Mrs. Carter is a recent authority on the subject.” 

“ Very well I ” responded Landon coolly. “ Will 
you meet that nine o’clock train with me to-mor- 
row evening ? You may do all the talking — I’ll 
be perfectly satisfied just to be seen in your com- 
pany.” 

Winifred laughed, flushed and parried. “ Per- 
haps Mrs. Cregg will come before then.” 

“ If she doesn’t,” retorted Landon doggedly, “ I 
shall call for you at eight-thirty to-morrow even- 
ing Oh ! I say — don’t hurry. You can’t catch 

that car — we’re too late for it — and I have some- 
thing to tell you.” The car which Winifred had 
intended to catch slipped down Fourth Avenue 
with a protesting shriek from the brakes against 
its wheels. The two waited for the next car under 
a magnificent maple that spread wide, gayly clad 
arms over their heads. 

“ This will delay me ten minutes,” scolded Wini- 
fred, “ and the high and mighty Orpingtons dine 
at four promptly.” 

“ All my fault,” confessed Landon, “ but all 
132 


UNCOFERING TRAILS 


faults don’t call for repentance. It will take me 
about ten minutes to lay a case before you. Then, 
if you can make an opportunity, put it up to Mrs. 
Cregg and find out how father and mother can 
best go about doing what they want to do. She 
may know where the joints are in this girl’s 
armor ” 

“ Then there’s a girl in the case,” Winifred 
interrupted. 

“ Yes, a daughter of one of mother’s old friends. 
Her name is Elise Shreve. Her mother is dead. 
Mother has not seen Elise since she was a child, 
but,” here Landon turned and looked Winifred 
over earnestly, whatever the girl looks like, she 
must be made of just such stuff as you are ! ” 

‘‘ Kindly tender Miss Shreve my sympathy,” 
retorted Winifred promptly. 

That’s all she will allow any one to tender 
her,” retorted Landon equally promptly, “ and that 
is why I say she is so much like you ! ” 

Winifred ignored the intimation. 

Then I know well what your father and 
mother have tried to do,” she said with conviction. 
“ They’ve tried to help her, and she is bound to 
help herself. If I were a man I should take my 
hat off to Miss Shreve.” 

Well, I don’t ! ” exclaimed Landon with energy. 

She is giving mother no end of anxiety. There 

133 


A SENIOR CO-ED 

is such a thing as being unreasonably independ- 
ent/^ 

Winifred met his accusing eyes with a faint 
wrinkle in her nose. She, too, by her excessive 
independence, had given the Stearns many anxious 
moments. The Stearns were bent on ridding 
themselves of much superfluous money. 

It’s all right to be independent in a measure 
unless you’re down and out,” Landon admitted. 

Then independence becomes obstinacy, I think.” 

And this Miss Shreve ” 

Yes, she’s down and out, but game all through,” 
he acknowledged. It’s like this : when she got 
ready to go to college two years ago she wrote to 
father asking him to make her a loan on the 
security of a life insurance policy. Of course 
father was glad to do it for her on her mother’s 
account. She gave him her note all very business- 
like and said she’d begin payments this fall. She 
went to Columbia. Did all sorts of stunts there. 

Graduated in some domestic things or other ” 

Domestic art and science,” prompted Wini- 
fred. 

That’s it. Fitted herself to teach and got a 
position first of September somewhere in the West, 
and then went to smash nervously, I take it. 
Don’t know which nor why, but she’s down and 
out. Then she wrote father asking for an exten- 

134 


UNCOVERING TRAILS 


sion of time on her note, and of course he just 
cancelled it and shipped it on to her/^ 

Of course he did ! ” Winifred responded with 
shining eyes. That’s your father all over.” 

Landon poked his toe in the soil and coughed 
in embarrassment. Well, what does a few dollars 
amount to one way or the other ?” defensively. 

But what did that girl do but send him a new 
note and this letter.” Landon began digging 
into his pockets. Mother wants you to read it. 

They’re bound to help her some way ” 

But why am I to talk to Mrs. Cregg ? ” 
Winifred interrupted in perplexity as a car ap- 
peared at the end of College Road. 

Oh, I forgot to say that the first year Miss 
Shreve was in Columbia she was with Mrs. Cregg 
in some capacity or other — don’t know what she 
was doing. But I telephoned mother Saturday 
that Mrs. Cregg is coming and she thought per- 
haps you would ask her about Miss Shreve.” 

While Landon was speaking they were hasten- 
ing to the car. As he assisted her on board he 
handed her a square envelope with the hurried 
request, Please read this and don’t forget to- 
morrow evening.” 

She tucked the letter into her hand-bag, intend- 
ing to read it on the car, but the presence of the one 
other passenger banished the memory of Elise 

135 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


Shreve. The passenger wore a handsome coat hand- 
somely lined. She sat with her face close to the 
window and greeted Winifred with an abstracted : 

I wonder who that absorbed couple can be ? 
Fve bowed three times to the youth without being 
even noticed, and as for the maid, fair is she, so 
thinks he ” 

Sh I Winifred’s elbow gave a warning poke. 

Louise, the conductor is coming.” 

Mrs. Grey waited until the blue coat was well 
on its way to the rear door. Then she observed : 

The Passing of the Conductor. Embargo 
lifted from Free Speech. To return to that ab- 
sorbed laddie ” 

Winifred’s chin arose obstinately, although her 
cheeks were flushed. I shall not return with 
you 1 ” 

Louise regarded her with mischievous eyes. 
“ There seems to be no necessity. I observe, as do 
others, that this is the fourth year that he has 
returned to you with monotonous regularity. 
Just how long, Winifred,” with a sudden change 
of voice, have you known Landon Stearns ? ” 

We went to grammar school together.” 

Louise arose, signaling the conductor. The 
preparatory school for life,” she remarked with a 
laughing backward glance as she left the car. 

Still forgetful of the letter in her bag, Winifred’s 
136 


UNCOVERING TRAILS 


first act when she arrived at the Two-Faced House 
was to survey the colonial living-room. It must 
be in order in case either Rebecca or Lillian should 
presently appear with Mrs. Cregg. Lillian had 
gone to the Central station and Rebecca to the 
Lackawanna. 

The great room lay in a chilly gloom which 
Winifred dispelled by a liberal contribution to the 
fireplace. The charred backlog began to crackle 
and the smaller sticks to blaze until the flames 
leaped and roared up the cavernous chimney. 
Then, in the glow of the cheerful firelight she 
looked about at the spinning-wheel in the corner, 
the reel with a bundle of flax tied to one of the 
spokes, the ponderous oak settles, the mahogany 
davenport, the ancient cooking utensils beside the 
fireplace, the big kettle steaming on the crane, the 
yawning brick oven in which nothing had been 
baked in years. The wall was covered with paper 
of long ago. Across its smoky and dulled surface, 
impossible horsemen galloped toward bunches of 
huge faded roses. In one corner a cupboard 
reached from floor to ceiling, its shelves heaped 
with pewter dishes and old Delft ware at which 
collectors had looked covetously for years. 

“ I wish,” said Winifred aloud as she left the 
room, '' that Mrs. Cregg would come to-night. I 
don't like this uncertainty.” 

^37 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


Everything at the Two-Faced House was in a 
state of suspense and on its best behavior. Mrs. 
Carter had announced that she would wear a black 
silk dress and shoes to supper every afternoon until 
Mrs. Cregg arrived and saw that she possessed 
them. Then the assumption was that she would 
relapse again into slippers and loose ginghams. 
Her husband had cleared the colonial living-room 
of his shoes and boots and slippers and pumps and 
gum shoes ” and had purchased a new supply of 
collars and ties “ regardless of cost or color. 

In the kitchen Winifred found Mrs. Carter, not 
yet in silk attire, frying doughnuts and listening to 
Newsy's monthly report, which that young man 
expounded as he toasted a pair of wet feet in the 
oven. 

“ ‘ Deportment,' " he read ; that's the way you 
act. She marked me only 80 in that. I would 
'a' got a hundred, only I seen Orve Lane kick the 
Sherman girl on her lame ankle and I up and 
knocked him outa his seat. I'm glad I done it. 
I don't care 'bout gittin' no hundred in deport- 
ment ! " 

Newsy spoke with bravado, but he turned his 
head away and winked rapidly. Then he sought 
his handkerchief out of respect to its donor, and 
wiped his eyes, remarking carelessly, The wind 
cuts somethin' nawful to-day." 

138 


UNCOVERING TRAILS 


' ReadinV ” he continued, '' 80. I read like a 
streak, she says — faster’n any one else in the class. 
Don’t see why I didn’t git 100 there, but 80’s good 

’nuff. ’Rithmetic is ” Here Newsy swelled 

out his thin little chest to its utmost capacity and 
raised his voice impressively to its highest key. 

I’m ’way ahead in ’rithmetic. I’m 95 there.” 

Then his chest shrank and his head drooped. 
“ Say, Mis’ Carter, I don’t see any sense in language. 
Do you? It don’t amount t’ much anyway. I 
got only 68 in language.” 

At this point Mrs. Carter dropped into a chair, 
took a spectacle case out of a capacious pocket, 
adjusted her glasses, pushed the knob of hair to 
the summit of her head, crossed her feet and 
beckoned. Let me set my two eyes on that re- 
port.” 

Newsy stuffed his handkerchief into his pocket 
and traveled across the floor on damp reluctant 
feet. Into Mrs. Carter’s hand he slipped the card 
which contained not one mark of perfection, and 
looked at her with eyes of whose wistfulness he 
was unaware. “ I’m glad I knocked Orve outer 
that seat,” he declared again with a little catch in 
his voice. “ He kicked her lame ankle.” 

Mrs. Carter made no reply, but her comely face 
expressed no disapproval. She settled back in her 
chair comfortably. With her free hand she reached 
139 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


mechanically for a hot doughnut and slipped it 
into a small grimy hand. Then her arm went 
about a pair of narrow shoulders, and Newsy, with 
a long sigh of content, leaning hard against her, 
poured his childish perplexities into her motherly 
ear, only to find they had dissolved like the mists 
which overhung the Lake Valley. 

When Winifred entered the kitchen, Newsy^s 
face was as glowing as his heart, and the report 
card had been duly signed and approved by Mrs. 
Carter who stood once more over the seething lard 
and spluttering doughnuts. 

Go out into the wood-shed, please,” she re- 
quested him, and bring in them boots that Moses 
got to-day. They’re be-hind the door.” 

As the child obeyed with a joyful whoop, she 
turned toward Winifred with a smile that made 
two creases through her cheeks. “ I sup-pose I 
ain’t one to bring up chil-dren right, but I rather 
have Newsy trounce that Orve boy than get two 
hun-dred in deportment.” 

“ Rubber boots,” announced the trouncer ” 
from the wood-shed. He appeared bearing them 
aloft triumphantly. They ain’t got no size on 
’em, though I ” he added disapprovingly, deposit- 
ing them at Winifred’s feet. Don’t see how 
they’ll ever come onto your feet.” 

While they were coming on,” easily, too, Sarah 
140 


UNCOVERING TRAILS 


Mary directed : Fix your-self up to keep clean in 
some more duds that you’ll find be-hind the wood- 
shed door.” 

In a few moments, to the accompaniment of 
Newsy’s giggle, the wood-shed door opened and 
Winifred appeared curtsying and asking demurely. 
How do you like the appearance of your new 
hen hussy ? ” 

Ain’t she a sight?” cried Newsy delightedly 
dancing around her. I never seen a bigger I ” 

An old skirt which had once loosely enveloped 
Mrs. Carter’s ample figure was pinned about Wini- 
fred’s waist, hanging in deep folds over her slender 
hips and reaching the ankles of the clumsy rubber 
boots. A frayed and faded shawl was passed around 
her shoulders, the ends brought back under her arms 
and knotted in the back. A red nubia was bound 
tightly over her fair hair, not for purposes of 
warmth, but cleanliness. 

‘‘You look as if you had just reached Am-er- 
ica ! ” laughed Mrs. Carter. 

“ I feela that away,” mimicked Winifred. 

But as she crossed the yard with Newsy, who ^ 
had confessed to a few moments of leisure, her 
hostess looked after her thoughtfully. “ That 
girl is grit clear down t’ them clom-ping boots,” 
she muttered, “ and the best of it is, she don’t 
re-alize it.” 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


Newsy, keeping step with the clomping boots, 
was solving a problem which took the form of a 
question as they headed for Mrs. Breiman's and 
the hen-house key. 

Do you git the highest marks of any one up 
t’ college. Miss Lowe ? 

“ No, Newsy,” a shadow crossed Winifred’s face, 
“ I don’t. All of the senior girls here — except 
Lillian — get higher than I.” 

Newsy’s step at once became a hop. His face 
glowed. But you know more things ’n any of 
’em,” he declared triumphantly. Teachers, they 
don’t always mark as they ought.” Then, as they 
approached Mrs. Breiman’s door, he added, Say ! 
It ain’t always easy to git right down in a book 
when ye have t’ hustle fer a livin’, is it ? ” 

“ I have experienced that difficulty myself,” re- 
turned Winifred with a rueful laugh as she rapped 
on the kitchen door and asked for the key to the 
abode of the Orpingtons. 

I’m glad you’ve taken the hens off my shoul- 
ders,” Mrs. Breiman stated as she hunted the 
kitchen over for the key. What with my boarder 
and husband and the children I have my hands 
about full. Jim,” she raised her voice in the di- 
rection of the living-room, “ where did you put 
that key when you watered the Orpingtons this 
morning ? ” 


142 


UNCOVERING TRAILS 


The chauffeur appeared at the kitchen door, 
fumbling in his pockets. His eye fell on Newsy, 
who puffed out his chest and glared defiance from 
behind Winifred. Divested of his goggles, his 
high collar and low drawn cap, Jim was seen to be 
a young man with a sharp protruding chin which 
trembled when he was agitated, a nose returning 
by degrees from an abnormal rotundity to its usual 
sharpness, a forehead which retreated abruptly 
from the sharp nose and took refuge beneath a 
shock of thick black hair. Wordlessly, he fished 
the key out of his trousers pocket and handed it 
over to Winifred. 

Jim, he's been good to help out with the Or- 
pingtons," chattered Mrs. Breiman. “ They take 
an awful lot of care, you’ll find. Mr. Carter is too 
fussy for anything with this place. Now, about 
the milk. It’s only to sell, and yet he takes on if 
the bottles ain’t washed just so, and everything as 
clean as can be. And I say, what’s the use ? The 
folks he sells to wouldn’t know if there was more 

or less dirt mixed in. He’s that fussy ’’ But 

Winifred and Newsy were beyond the reach of her 
voice. 

^‘That’s the way she’s talked ever since Jim 
come,’’ complained Newsy as they entered the Or- 
pington sun parlor ; I hain’t got no use for 
Jim.’’ 


143 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


As Winifred was industriously hoeing the saw- 
dust over the grain, Belle Eaton’s voice sounded 
from the doorway. “ The stately fowls stand on 
sturdy legs and view the visitor — until they give 
her the nightmare with their red eyes ! ” Belle 
dropped suddenly from the doubtful heights of 
alliteration. Are their eyes red all the time, or 
have they been exercising in the wind ? ” 

Yep, all the time,” Newsy hastened to answer, 
“ and their legs is white, or they wouldn’t be real 
true Orps.” 

Belle advanced a step gingerly. Then, if you 
please, I’ll take half ‘ Orps ’ when I take any.” 

“ They are beauties, aren’t they ? ” exclaimed 
Winifred as she tramped about in her rubber 
boots, looking into nests which contained only a 
porcelain nest egg each. 

“ Winifred Lowe ! ” Belle had stepped inside the 
room, and at the sight of the hen hussy uttered a 
little shriek, '' If only you could see yourself as 
others see you I ” 

Winifred turned a pair of dancing eyes on her. 

I’m arrayed according to the sensible ideas of our 
hostess. But, Belle, I am glad there is no mirror 
in the wood-shed. This is a case where if we could 
see ourselves as ithers see us we might commit a 
blunder instead of avoiding one, and,” she added 
under her breath as she washed out the drinking 
144 


UNCOVERING TRAILS 


pans, I^m bound to do this work and contribute 
my share to the chapter house no matter how I 
look 1 

Belle leaned against the door laughing. “You’ll 
be another ‘ human touch ’ for Mrs. Gregg’s enter- 
tainment. She’ll not be with us at supper, of 
course, because neither Lillian nor Reb have 
’phoned, and it’s way past train time on both 
roads.” 

The arrangement was that the one who secured 
Mrs. Gregg should telephone to the Two-Faced 
House before starting from the station in order to 
give the girls who chanced to be there time, as 
Glara Pike said, to take off their scowls and put 
on their company manners and be prepared to 
meet the guest at the double door of the colonial 
living-room. 

“ I can’t see,” Mrs. Garter had remonstrated, 
“ why you want to let her in-to that heath-enish 
place before she’s had time t’ find out that the 
most of us is civ-ilized. If ’twas me, now, I 
should pick up my old satch-el and foot it back 
t’ New York if I thought I’d got to set in there.” 

But the master of the house had boomed a satis- 
fied approval. “ She shows her good sense wantin’ 
to see the old house. When you fetch ’er in you 
want t’ give that bell the pull of its life and set 
the old place a-roarin’. Then we’ll open up these 

145 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


cupboards and let ’er eat on a pewter plate my 
great-grandmother^s great-aunt brought over from 
England 

'‘Things ^ud taste en-ough sight better on a 
plate from the Ten Cent Store/’ Sarah Mary had 
interrupted practically. "I always mis-trusted the 
pewter might scrape off and poi-son a body I ” 


146 


CHAPTER X 


MEETING MRS. CREGG 

Lillian was the first one who arrived from the 
station without meeting Mrs. Cregg. She came 
in tired and hungry, as the girls were flying about 
from kitchen to dining-room getting supper, un- 
heedful of the short breathed remonstrances from 
Mrs. Carter who looked as uncomfortable as she 
felt in a tight black silk dress with her hair an- 
chored to the crown of her head by a bristling 
array of hairpins. 

‘‘There wasn^t a woman over forty years old 
within a block of the station ! Lillian declared 
crossly as she warmed her hands over the kitchen 
range. “ And they all had dark hair and no 
manner at all ! ” 

Scarcely had she finished speaking, when 
Rebecca’s voice was heard in the dining-room 
announcing impressively : 

“ Girls, I almost met her ! ” 

With a rush Lillian was in the dining-room. 
“ Do you mean to say she’s in this town ? Have 
the alumnse ” 

“ Don’t get excited, Lill,” soothed Rebecca. 

147 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


She dropped into Mrs. Carter’s chair and accepted 
Pete as he leaped to her knee. “ But I can tell 
you I was excited for a moment myself. My 
heart flew clear into my throat. There she stood, 
with all the earmarks of the Mother of Wisdom 
on her. She was medium in height, same in 
thickness, had lovely soft white hair and skin. 
She was looking around as though she expected 
me to appear, and so I appeared without delay. 
I was so sure of my victim that I never said ‘ Are 
you Mrs. Cregg ? ’ Oh, no ! I put on my best 
air and sweetest smile and said, ^ This is Mrs. 
Cregg. Lillian Antwerp couldn’t come, but she 
sent me. I am Miss Bicknell, and I’m so glad to 
see you I ’ I had rehearsed a really graceful speech 
all the way to the station, but when I wanted to 
use it it wasn’t present.” 

But the woman ” interrupted Winifred. 

What did she say ? ” 

“ She turned, looked me over, and said as crisp 
as a November wind, ‘ I’m not Mrs. Anybody. 
I’m here to meet my niece.’ ” Rebecca stroked 
Pete and laughed. The atmosphere was not 
too chilly, girls, to keep me from wilting. This 
enterprise promises to have its drawbacks.” 

“ Drawbacks ! ” cried Lillian. My head is in 
a whirl — a smoky whirl ! Think of all we’ve 
gone through with since Friday ! ” 

148 


MEETING MRS, CREGG 


“ I rise in the form of an interrogation point,” 
said Clara Pike, holding up the carving fork. 

How are we going to do our college work and 
continue to meet Mrs. Cregg, or else be in a foment 
over some one else's meeting her? ” 

“ I rise in the form of an answer,” retorted 
Erma Cunningham holding up a fist to represent 
a period. “ Let us cease from fomenting and con- 
centrate on work.” 

Concentrate ! ” scornfully. '' How am I going 
to do anything to-morrow morning, for instance, 
except to concentrate on Mrs. Cregg and the pos- 
sibilities of overlooking her ? It’s my turn then 
at the West Shore.” 

Tuesday morning, as the electric gong in the 
Hall of Languages liberated the ten o’clock classes, 
Clara Pike stopped Rebecca Bicknell at the door 
of Professor Hershel’s class room with an amused 
inquiry : • 

‘‘ Reb, how was the woman dressed yesterday 
who was meeting her niece ? ” 

“ In black. Black suit, black gloves, and a 
small black hat set well down over her eyes.” 

Clara nodded, softly giggling. '' The very same. 
I ran across her at the West Shore half an hour 
ago and asked her if she were not Mrs. Cregg.” 

Oh, Clara, did you ! What must she think ? ” 
Clara backed into a corner to escape the throng- 
149 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


ing students and pressed her handkerchief over 
her mouth to drown the sound of her laughter. 

I can’t vouch for what she thinks, but what 
she says.” 

Quick,” urged Rebecca. I must not be late 
again to lit. What did she say ? ” 

That there is no wedding certificate framed on 
her walls, and that she already has had ^ Miss ’ 
carved on her tombstone — and out of the station 
she whisked, taking all my breath with her I I 
haven’t wholly recovered it yet ! ” 

Belle Eaton was the next one to meet the lady 
who was not Mrs. Cregg. She had not yet had the 
benefit of Clara’s experience when she entered the 
West Shore station at two o’clock. At twenty 
minutes past two she emerged and boarded a car 
marked Cartersville.” For several blocks she 
rode with lips pressed tightly together and black 
eyes snapping, but before the car reached the end 
of the line, her lips were half parted and curved, 
and the snap in her eyes had given place to amuse- 
ment. When she opened the door of the civi- 
lized house her chuckles were audible to Wini- 
fred, Clara and Rebecca who had just come from 
the Hill. 

“Belle Eaton,” cried Rebecca, “I believe you 
saw her, too — the Woman in Black ! ” 

“ Black suit, black hat set down over ” 

' 150 


MEETING MRS. CREGG 


‘‘ The same/^ cried Clara and Rebecca in one 
breath, the latter adding, ‘‘ Oh, Belle, did you mis- 
take her for Mrs. Cregg too ? ” 

Of course I did. She answers perfectly to 
Lillian’s description. I thought it was queer she 
didn’t have any hand baggage with her, and I 
didn’t see her get off the train, but when I was 
searching the crowd over I spied her leaving the 
room and asked her if she were Mrs. Cregg.” 

“ And she said ” prompted Clara in a tone 

of lively anticipation. 

Belle burst out laughing. “ Said ? Well, she 
never smiled nor stopped. She just turned her 
head so I could hear, and said, ‘ I might have been 
unlucky enough to be Mrs. Cregg if Mr. Cregg had 
met me first,’ and at the last word she was out of 
the door leaving half a dozen people laughing at 
me.” 

To-night,” Winifred declared presently with 
great confidence, that woman is going to be 
strictly ignored if she is at the Central.” 

“ Perhaps by nine o’clock she will have taken 
herself off the horizon,” suggested Belle. But I 
tell you what is due to appear on the horizon then, 
and that is rain.” 

Belle’s prophecy was fulfilled at eight-thirty that 
evening as Mr. Carter found when he emerged 
from the horse barn without an umbrella. 

151 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


Great guns, pitchforks, lightenrods I ’’ he 
swore. How it does rain I 

The Captain of Industry had made the rounds 
of his horse, cow and hay barns, his hen-houses 
and his grain bins. He had watched the men, 
clad in white suits and caps, milk his herd of 
choice Jerseys. He had stamped around the milk 
room while the women, also clad in white, had 
bottled the rich clean milk, Mrs. Breiman scolding 
under her breath over his ^Hussiness and the use- 
lessness of being so clean where milk was concerned. 

Nobody will know it,” was Mrs. Breiman^s slogan. 
Slowly followed by Newsy, whose sharp eyes saw 
many things which would otherwise have remained 
unseen, Moses had locked up his buildings, and, 
with the boy apparently glued to his heels, raced 
ponderously through the sudden downpour to the 
wood-shed. 

“ Great guns. Newsy ! ” he boomed kicking off 
his boots and removing his coat. “ Are them girls, 
any of 'em, goin’ on that fool train business to- 
night ? ” Newsy was general information bureau 
at Cartersville. 

Miss Lowe is a-goin' with Landon Stearns to 
meet the nine o’clock at the Central.” 

Moses instantly threw open the wood-shed door 
with the command, You go tell Jim t’ bring 
that auty around in ten minutes by the fastest 
152 


MEETING MRS. CREGG 


clock he ever didn’t move by ! Tell ’im ” but 

further instructions were useless, as Newsy was half- 
way to the Brei mans’, borne on small but rapid 
legs. 

Moses closed the door and was rummaging about 
leisurely removing his wet shoes when he heard 
Winifred’s voice in the kitchen and the word it 
was uttering caused him to lean forward, one wet 
shoe in hand, and listen. The word was “ tour.” 

‘‘ Oh, some time,” he heard Sarah Mary’s voice 
reply tolerantly, “ so long as Mose has set his mind 
on go-ing. But right now with that Mrs. Gregg 
com-ing I can’t leave. You can see that.” 

Winifred’s reply did not reach the interested 
ears in the wood-shed. It was low and urgent. 

Yes, I’d feel per-fectly safe with you in the 
house,” Mrs. Carter acknowledged, and after that 
Mrs. Gregg goes a-way — but I ra-ther take a good 
licking ! ” in sudden candor. Car rid-ing makes 
me sick and trotting around all dressed up makes 
me sick-er. But I’ll go af-ter ” 

Footsteps crossed the kitchen and died away in 
the direction of the dining-room. Moses relaxed 
his muscles, grinned, dropped the shoe, removed 
the other, chuckled, stood up, laughed outright 
and entered the house. 

Minus both shoes and coat, his damp hair stand- 
ing up like porcupine bristles, his green tie dragged 

153 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


around beneath one ear, his trousers rolled up 
nearly to the tops of his socks, he proceeded 
through the immaculate kitchen with its glisten- 
ing range and its scrubbed linoleum and porcelain 
sinks. Here he paused long enough to investigate 
the refrigerator. Then, armed with an immense 
piece of solid mince pie, he sauntered into the 
dining-room, opened the sugar bowl, abstracted a 
handful of lumps, pushed open the living-room 
door with an elbow and presented an inquiring 
brow to the assembled group in time to hear the 
girls pouring out their adventures with the Lady 
in Black to Landon Stearns, who stood against the 
radiator, his hat in his hand and the top coat 
buttoned to his chin. 

“ dressed in a short black suit with small 

black hat worn well over the eyes,” Rebecca was 
finishing. “Avoid her.” 

“ Don’t even look at her,” added Belle, “ because 
if you look you’re lost. You’ll be obliged to ask 
if she’s Mrs. Gregg.” 

At this point the telephone bell rang, and Wini- 
fred, drawing on her gloves in front of it, turned 
and took down the receiver. 

“ Hello — yes — oh, it’s you. Chancellor Haight ! 
No, we haven’t seen her yet. We — I — am going 
now to the Central to see if she has come. Yes, 
Miss AntAverp wrote her Sunday explaining the 

154 


MEETING MRS. CREGG 


situation in regard to the chapter house, but tell- 
ing her the Carters insist on her coming here. No 
— you see the letter was sent to Boothbay, and if 
she had left there it will still be following her 
about. As it is, she can’t escape us.” Here Wini- 
fred laughed and turned to the others. He says 
he hopes Dr. Cregg won’t escape us, either.” 

Outside arose the wail of the horn, at which 
gratifying sound Moses beamed. If she comes 
to-night have Jim tune up all you want t’. We’ll 
be dressed and sittin ’ in t’other house if you send 
us word you’ve got ’er.” Swallowing the last 
morsel of pie, Mr. Carter looked his wife over with 
an approving eye which missed all signs of her 
discomfort, and departed to his room to get him- 
self up “ regardless” against Mrs. Gregg’s possible 
arrival, while Winifred and Landon stepped from 
the porch into the auto, snugly protected from the 
driving rain. 

I feel sure,” exclaimed Winifred, “ that we 
shall bring Mrs. Cregg back with us. Tuesday 
is the best day for traveling, I think.” 

And I feel sure that the chancellor and trus- 
tees will induce her son to join her here when he 
lands. That’s what they are going to attempt. 
And once he looks us over ” 

“ And sees the Stearns Hall of Science and its 
possibilities ” 


155 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


it will be ‘ Good-bye Bainbridge/ ’’ ended 

Landon in a riot of high spirits. 

“ I think,” said Winifred slowly, “ that his com- 
ing even to look us over will all depend on whether 
his mother likes us.” 

“ How can she help herself! ” retorted Landon, 
narrowing his meaning with a glance at the sweet 
face beside him. 

“ Landon Stearns,” cried Winifred suddenly 
turning on him, her thoughts giving an un- 
accountable leap from the involuntary compliment 
to her hand-bag, “ I have forgotten all about that 
letter. It^s in my bag. I didn’t carry the bag to- 
day. I’m so sorry. Tell me what was in it 
and ” 

Here we are,” Landon interrupted her jumble 
of pronouns. Guess Elise Shreve will be obliged 
to wait until to-morrow to be discussed if we meet 
Mrs. Gregg. If not. I’ll tell you about the letter 
going back.” 

Into the large station the two hurried and 
through the waiting-room into the train-shed where 
they stood immovable against the picket fence. 
A train had just pulled in from the west and was 
disgorging its load. 

“ No use of looking them over,” muttered Lan- 
don. “ Here we are though — this is the New 
York express,” as another train slid past the 
156 



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MEETING MRS, GREGG 


gates with a reverberating roar. Now let's use 
our eyes." 

“ I'm sure she'll come," Winifred murmured, 
clinging to the pickets and straining her eyes. 

But the western trainful were pouring around 
the ends of the eastern express, and the two sets 
of passengers were mixing indiscriminately as they 
tramped through the gates. Winifred's head swam 
dizzily as she hastily took the measure of the gray- 
haired women. There were several crowding 
through the gates. 

Suddenly she clutched Landon's arm. “ There 
she is — quick — this way — she's 'this side the 
gate " and off the girl darted. 

Landon followed. He had seen no one answer- 
ing to Mrs. Gregg's description, but he, too, had 
become confused by the unusually large crowd 
occasioned by the arrival of the two trains. Back 
into the waiting-room he followed Winifred and 
came to a stop in front of a white-haired lady in 
a gray suit, her head covered with a small gray 
velvet toque. She carried a hand-bag and was 
looking with favor on Winifred. Landon at once 
removed his hat and looked pleasant. He was apt 
to look pleasantly at any one with whom Winifred 
found favor. 

Joy and certainty shone from Winifred's eyes. 
Her face wore an eager smile. Her hand was 

157 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


already extended with an irresistible cordiality as 
she asked the question that sounded like a relieved 
assertion, Is this Mrs. Cregg ? 

Pleasant wrinkles appeared on the smooth face 
of the lady in gray. She took the extended hand 
in a well gloved palm and asked with teasing 
pleasantry, “ And what would follow if I should 
confess to being Mrs. Cregg ? 

Winifred clung to her hand in a burst of glad- 
ness. “ We would take you with us to Miss Ant- 
werp and the Carters and the Two-Faced House 
she has told you so much about.’^ 

“ Very well.'' The lady's wrinkles deepened 
merrily. That is exactly where I want to go." 

Winifred introduced herself and Landon, and 
the latter at once excused himself a moment and 
bolted into a telephone booth. 

Mr. Carter himself was at the other end of the 
wire and boomed forth a “ Bring 'er on — we'll be 
ready for her in a jiffy," after which he sent his 
voice careening up the stairs. 

There were only twenty scant minutes at most 
to make the final preparations for Mrs. Cregg's 
reception, but not a single girl was in her dressing 
gown. 

“ We're all clothed and in our right minds ! " 
cried Lillian as she fled down the stairs. 

Clothed and in some sort of mind," amended 
158 


MEETING MRS. CREGG 


Rebecca as she followed. “ I don't like to think 
that the one I've been leaning on since Saturday 
morning is my right one, though ! " 

They found Mr. Carter in the colonial living- 
room, excitedly kicking the fire into a roar. Mr. 
Carter was resplendent in a red tie, red socks and 
a red-bordered handkerchief which protruded in 
painfully regular folds from his breast pocket. 
His tie was ample, extending from a high collar to 
his waist on the outside of his vest. The feet of 
the red socks were encased in low patent leather 
pumps leaving a broad streak of color between the 
shoes and the short trousers. His hair was freshly 
slicked down behind each ear. His red face was 
glowing with delight as he hurried about undoing 
everything which the girls did under the impres- 
sion that he was of vast service in getting the 
room into its most attractive shape to meet the 
eyes of Dr. Cregg's mother. 

The rain had ceased as suddenly as it had com- 
menced when the shriek of the automobile horn 
announced the presence of the guest at the rusty 
iron gate in front of the old house. 

was in hopes they would bring her in-to my 
house first," fretted Mrs. Carter who, under com- 
pulsion, was occupying the great settle beside the 
'' heath-enish " fireplace. “ Then she would know 
that we're not all crazy I " 

159 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


Lillian flashed to the fireplace with a taper and 
lighted a wick floating in the oil of an ancient 
lamp which stood on top of a Holland chest 
centuries old. Then, with pretty dignity and a 
cordial smile, she threw open the double doors as 
the footsteps drew near on the raised boardwalk 
which wound among the hemlocks. For an 
instant the footsteps paused outside the door. 
Lillian glanced blankly over the gray toque on 
which the light fell, into the baffled faces of 
Winifred and Landon. The smile faded from her 
face and she stepped back. The lady in gray 
bowed and entered briskly, followed by her 
amazed convoy. Lillian fell speechlessly back 
against the horsemen riding toward the huge red 
roses as Winifred stammered, “ Mrs. Cregg.^’ 

The only sound which ensued were two quickly 
stifled exclamations. They came from Clara and 
Rebecca. Belle, beside the davenport, put her 
hand suddenly over her mouth, while Landon 
mechanically closed the door and stood against it. 

Mrs. Carter had risen to greet Mrs. Cregg, but 
the moment the stranger came under the light 
from the huge brass candlesticks on the center 
table, she fell back to the settle with a cry of 
Susan Bates I Is that you ? 

The newcomer tranquilly threaded her way 
among the girls and sat down beside Mrs. Carter. 
i6o 


MEETING MRS. CREGG 


The innumerable short fine lines which pointed 
in all directions from her eyes twinkled and 
lengthened. 

Well, Sarah Mary, I don^t know whether it^s 
Sue Bates or a certain Mrs. Cregg. So I thought 
I^d just come along and establish my own identity 
beyond a doubt with you and Moses as witnesses,’' 
As she spoke, the stranger pulled off her gloves 
composedly. Moses Carter, whose mouth had 
fallen open at the first appearance of the pseudo 
Mrs. Cregg, now opened it wider in a great roar. 
He dropped into the ‘‘ sleepy-hollow ” and slapped 
his legs enthusiastically. “ I vum. Sue Bates, if 
3^ou live to be as old as Methuselah you’ll be 
havin’ your little practical jokes.” 

“ Exactly like Moses,” added that gentleman’s 
wife. You might have mar-ried Mose yourself 
if you wa’n’t his first cous-in ! ” 

Miss Bates’ answer was more prompt than com- 
plimentary. She was removing her hat. You’re 
welcome to Mose, and any other woman is welcome 
to any other man. Mrs. Cregg, for instance” — 
here she turned on the silent company near the 
door — is entirely welcome to Mr. Cregg, if there 
is a Mr. Cregg.” 

Dear me ! ” cried Mrs. Carter, her sides com- 
mencing to shake, “ if you haven’t gone and made 
me forget to intro-duce these young folks.” 

i6i 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


The girls drew near with Landon in their wake. 
The eyes focussed on Miss Susan Bates were not 
brimming over with cordiality. Lillian was 
flushed with indignation. Landon was suppress- 
ing a sheepish grin and avoiding the triumphant 
gaze of Belle Eaton. Winifred, also, did not see 
fit to look at Belle nor Clara nor Rebecca. 

“ You see,” explained Miss Bates easily to the 
group, “ I live away out on the Green Valley road 
and, to-night, I got caught without an umbrella or 
rubbers. And when I saw Mose Carter’s car and | 
saw two students getting out — still looking for j 
Mrs. Cregg ” — here the little wrinkles writhed and j 
twisted, appeared and disappeared as her eyes | 
swept over the trio who had seen her before — “ I 
said to myself that if Mrs. Cregg didn’t come I 
intended to get a ride and save my best shoes and 
hat, and sleep at Sarah Mary’s.” 

She had taken off her hat, revealing a pleasant 
face from which age had not banished mischief, 
beautiful soft white hair becomingly done. “ I 
suppose,” she added, her gray eyes on Winifred’s 
face, that I ought to be ashamed of myself for 
getting that ride under false pretenses, but I won- 
dered how long I could continue to be Mrs. 
Cregg ! ” 

Winifred burst out laughing and every one else^ 
unwillingly joined. I caught you on Boothbay ' 
162 


MEETING MRS. CREGG 


Harbor,” she declared. You had just left there, 
supposedly, and yet you located it near Boston.” 

The stranger^s face suddenly flashed full of little 
lines. They crossed her nose and zigzagged down 
her cheeks. I never made any progress in geog- 
raphy, but never mind I I^m here without a drop 
of rain on me and am cordially invited to re- 
main.” She turned the little wrinkles toward her 
shaking hostess who nodded violently but could 
not speak. 

Why under the canopy. Sue, have you taken 
to chasing around the stations meeting trains ? ” 
asked Moses genially. 

The lines faded from the pleasant face, and an 
expression of anxiety crept in. I am expecting 
my niece, Elise Shreve,” she replied slowly. She 
is coming on from New York. She’s not very 
well. You must recollect her, Moses I She’s my 
oldest sister’s girl.” 


163 


CHAPTER XI 


THE LETTER FROM BOOTHBAY 

At the name, Landon's and Winifred’s eyes met 
with a sudden flash. Landon opened his lips im- 
pulsively, but a quick negative movement from 
Winifred’s hand closed them, and both turned 
quietly again to Miss Bates. Before that lady had 
time to continue her willing narrative, however, 
up rose Mrs. Carter with a determined tilt of her 
double chin. 

‘‘ You folks all come over to my house this min- 
nit. As long as I thought you was that Mrs. 
Cregg I perk-ed up and set down in this heath- 
enish place. But as long as you’re on-ly Sue 
Bates, you come a-long where there’s chairs that’s 
made to rest in and a carpet under your feet and 
civil-ization around you.” 

By the time this laborious speech was com- 
pleted, Sarah Mary was established in her Boston 
rocker in front of the radiator underneath an 
electric light, her feet, uncomfortably shod with 
leather, elevated to a foot rest, and Pete sliding 
about in resentful astonishment on an unaccus- 
tomed silken knee. 


164 


THE LETTER FROM BOOTHBAT 

Winifred and Landon brought up the rear of 
the procession, and far enough in the rear, to en- 
able them to indulge in a few -excited comments 
on the strangeness of the coincidents which were 
setting Elise Shreve at their door. 

“ Possibly,” Winifred suggested, you would bet- 
ter not say yet that you know about Miss Shreve. 
LePs listen.” 

Best way,” Landon whispered back, “ now 
when 1 think of it. She's so confoundedly inde- 
pendent that one has to be wise as a serpent to 
catch her off her guard.” 

When the two emerged from the passage be- 
tween the two houses, they found the room de- 
serted save for the Carters and their guest. Over- 
head echoed faintly the tread of many feet, and 
Winifred, smiling, seemed to catch the trampers' 
amused indignation in the sound. Quickly she 
slipped into a chair in Mrs. Carter’s shadow, while 
Landon, too big to efface himself in shadows, 
stiffly occupied the end of the couch. 

Moses proceeded at once to kick off his patent 
leathers, and tipping his chair back on its hind 
legs elevated the red stockings to the top of the 
radiator, while Miss Bates, sitting on the edge of a 
square fat plush upholstery in a large armchair, 
scorned the back as she plied her tongue. 

Yes, Elise Shreve. You recall her, Mose? I 
165 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


haven’t seen the girl for three years, not since she 
started in at Columbia — fool business ! So far as 
I can gather, she’s taken every course there except 
the one in common sense ! And I’ve noticed that 
branch lacks teachers. She’s crowded two years 
of everything into one, and taken the greatest 
amount of pride in the fact. Now, as I make it, 
she’s got to let up and spread one year of living 
over two and not take any pride in it either. 

“ That’s the way with these colleges. Stuff ’em, 
cram ’em, fill up their heads so full it takes all the 
energy out of their spines, and then turn ’em loose. 
Now, Sarah Mary, you and I know that it takes a 
pretty stiff spine to hold us up through this vale 
of tears. The spine needs educating as much as 
the head, and when my ship comes in I’m going 
to endow a Spinal Chair right up here in our own 
college. It’s got to be occupied by a doctor, and 
every student has got to come before it once a 
week. He or she will be asked how much they 
sleep and what they eat and what they wear and 

how many studies they’re cramming ” 

With no change of tone and no motion except 
to turn her twinkling eyes from Sarah Mary to 
Moses, this lightning monologist changed her 
dissertation on health into the abrupt question, 
“ Well, Mose, what are the Orpingtons doing ? ” 
Moses slid down in his chair until he sat firmly 
1 66 


THE LETTER FROM BOOTHBAY 


on the middle of his own strong spine. So-so, 
Sue. They eat regular and hearty, as I notice 
when the feed bills come in, and in the course of 
time they may take it inV their blamed heads t^ 
lay I 

Miss Bates laughed ironically. Never mind — 
they're blooded, and if history repeats itself the 
bluer the blood the less work the individual is 
inclined to do." Here she paused, struck by a 
sudden thought. By the way, they've gone 
down in price, I see. A pair was offered in last 
night's News at eight dollars apiece — full blooded 
Orpingtons." 

By Jiminy!" swore Moses violently, but as 
it immediately appeared, not at the sliding price 
of Orpingtons. He made a rapid movement by 
which his feet were jerked from the radiator, his 
spine stiffened, and his face twisted into agonized 
lines. He glanced resentfully at his wife. 

Give me a stove or a fireplace ! You can never 
calculate on the heat in a passel of iron pipes, darn 
'em!" He rubbed his heel tenderly. “Just as 
you get ready to be comfortable, you find a hole 
burned clean through t' the marrow of the bone." 

Winifred, taking advantage of the conversational 
lull, leaned forward and addressed the visitor. “Is 
your niece to be with you long. Miss Bates ? " 

Miss Bates raised her shapely shoulders. “ The 
167 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


land only knows, Miss Lowe. She's welcome to 
stay. She has no home of her own, but she makes 
up in independence all that she lacks in other di- 
rections. She wants to get a job here in the city 
and board with me." 

The springs of the couch creaked suddenly. 

She wrote," Miss Bates went on, “ that she 
should hunt up a job the size of her nerve. I've 
noticed that the more attention the nerves de- 
mand the more a body's nerve shrinks. But see 
here " 

The speaker grasped the arms of her chair, 
and, leaning forward, peered around Mrs. Carter. 
‘‘ Elise'll be a stranger in a strange land here. 
Can't some of you young folks come to see her 
and chirk her up a bit? " 

Winifred's tone was as joyous as though she had 
had a favor conferred on her. Yes, indeed I I 
shall be glad to call as soon as she comes." 

At the door, as Landon was leaving a few mo- 
ments later, he muttered, Good for you, Wini- 
fred I I shall write mother before I go to bed to-^ 
night. I know you can help us out. Read Miss 
Shreve's letter and I'll see you to-morrow about 
it." He was an adept at framing perfectly legiti-^ 
mate excuses for seeing Winifred to-morrow." 

When she went up-stairs, Lillian's door was ajar, 
and that young lady sat with her head bent over a 
1 68 


THE LETTER FROM BOOTHBAT 


book on which her attention was not irrevocably 
glued. “ Winifred Lowe, come in here,’^ she com- 
manded in a low tone. “ No, Reb isn’t here. She 
said she’d got to study and so she went with Belle 
into the other house. But I couldn’t help talking. 
I’m so angry that it’s made my hair brittle ! A 
whole handful broke off while I was combing it. 
The very idea of making such geese of us I Isn’t that 
exactly like a Carter? As Mrs. Carter says, they 
‘ mad ’ you so.” Lillian, despite the declared state 
of her feelings, giggled. “ But isn’t she fine look- 
ing? Finer, really, than Mrs. Cregg, but without 
her manner, of course. Mrs. Cregg would never 
make announcements about her tombstone to en- 
tire strangers ! ” 

Both girls giggled, and Winifred, softly closing 
the door, went on to her own room and the perusal 
of Elise Shreve’s letter. It was a letter that made a 
deep appeal to her because she herself had stood at 
the door of Failure which seemed to have swung 
wide open in front of the writer. Not that the 
letter asked for sympathy — far from it. It was 
simply a business statement of facts ; that Miss 
Shreve had graduated from the courses in Domestic 
Art and Domestic Science in June, and had, in 
September, taken a responsible position as teacher 
in an Indiana college — and failed in the work. 

I am sending you a renewal of your note,” she 
169 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


wrote. I cannot accept what you so generously 
give. It would deprive me of my self-respect. I 
have failed to fill a large position, but I can fill a 
smaller one, and I shall lose no time in seeking 
one.” 

The letter was written before she left Indiana 
for New York. 

The following morning at the breakfast table. 
Miss Bates appeared, erect, strong, smiling. 

Which of you girls goes out with me train meet- 
ing this morning ? ” she asked, her eyes twinkling 
until, despite her intentions, each girl twinkled back 
in turn. It’s much better to go with me than 
find me in the station, I guess you think, while I 
think that this meeting people who forget to men- 
tion by what route they intend to arrive is a little 
venturesome, especially when you get caught out a 
few miles from home without your rubbers and 
umbrella and see your cousin’s auto ready to receive 
you ! ” 

It’s my turn to go this morning,” laughed Clara. 

Winifred’s care of the Orpingtons delayed her 
beyond the time appointed for the auto to journey 
to the Hill. It was half-past nine when she left 
the car at College Road. Landon, crossing the 
campus from the Psi Upsilon Chapter House, saw 
her and quickened his pace into a long rapid stride. 

Have you gone into training for a pilgrimage 
170 


THE LETTER FROM BOOTHBAT 


with the suffragettes?” he demanded, falling into 
step beside her half-way up the hill. 

She shook her head mischievously. “I'm noth- 
ing so dignified as a suffragette pilgrim,” she 
laughed. “ You forget I'm at present a ^ Goose 
Girl,' only substitute ^Orpington ' for ‘ Goose."' 

Landon chuckled. He looked in frank admira- 
tion at the small face beneath the blue hat and 
said with emphasis, “ Winifred, I never saw your 
equal. You make things go that you take hold 
of ” 

Winifred held up a warning finger with the glib 
quotation, “ ^ Young man, beware. The rapids are 
before you.' ” 

“ Always are when I try to say a word to 
you ” 

“Do you infer, sir, that I do all the talking my- 
self? ” she turned on him severely. 

“ You don't always let me finish what I start to 
say ! A word to you about yourself, I was about 
to add.” 

She glanced up, caught the expression in his eyes, 
and hastily changed the subject. “ I read the letter, 
Landon, and — and I like Miss Shreve and her 
pluck. I'm glad she did not allow your father to 
forgive her debt.” 

“ Huh I I presume you are. Didn't I tell you 
she resembled you ? ” 

171 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


“ We will now proceed to a discussion of Miss 
Shreve,” declared Winifred promptly. “ What 
does your mother wish to do with her ? 

Landon swung the vestibule door open slowly. 

So long as she insists on paying father off, mother 
wants to find a way to poke the money into her 
pocket when her back is turned ! See ? 

“ Yes, I understand. But judging from her 
actions and her letter, her back isn’t often turned I 
But right there is where Mrs. Gregg may help, 
knowing Miss Shreve.” 

At the head of the first flight of stairs stood 
Lillian Antwerp, her eyes very large and bright, 
and her whole attitude betokening an excitement 
held in check only by the place. The tightness 
of the grip in which she took Winifred’s arm, how- 
ever, suffered no check. 

“ I’ve been waiting for you for hours,” she whis- 
pered. It was only one hour since she herself had 
arrived at the Hill. I’m trying to find some one 
who is going right back to Cartersville. When do 
you go?” 

Winifred released her aching arm and turned 
wondering eyes on the flushed and agitated Lillian. 
“ Not until one this afternoon.” 

“ Oh, dear,” murmured Lillian, then you’re 
no good at all. I go then myself.” 

Spying Belle Eaton at the entrance to Professor 

i;2 


THE LETTER FROM BOOTHE AT 


HersheFs office she hurried away leaving her 
mission unexplained. But her departure brought 
into view a squarely built young man who had 
been standing behind her, and who now volunteered 
information explanatory of her movements. 

“ I found a letter last night, Miss Lowe,” Sayles 
Cooper began, ‘‘ the one you've all been so anxious 
about. Or, a workman found it, rather, and turned 
it over to me when I went down last night.” 

'' Oh ! ” murmured Winifred, “ from Boothbay 
Harbor?” 

Cooper nodded. The gong had sounded its 
second command and the halls were rapidly 
emptying. Winifred glanced toward Professor 
Adams' lecture room which was her destination. 
She heard the professor absently calling the roll. 
The door closed, but still she lingered until Sayles 
Cooper, in his slow, quiet way, had finished his 
explanation. 

Yes, from Boothbay Harbor. The carpenter 
said that when they tore away the window-seat in 
the library yesterday, they ran on the letter. It 
was between the wall and the back of the seat, so 
of course we couldn't find it aided by a dozen 
candles.” 

Of course not,” assented Winifred, adding 
eagerly, And you brought it to Miss Antwerp 
this morning ? ” 


173 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


Cooper shook his head. No, that^s what I 
didn't do. The last mail hadn't been collected 
yet, so I restamped and directed it and put it in 
the corner box, hoping she'd get it before she came 
up this morning." 

“ Oh, I see." Winifred searched the hall with 
her glance, but no Lillian appeared. And not 
one of us is free till one o'clock. We all go home 
at one." 

Winifred was late to the lecture, and Lillian 
was later. She sank down beside Winifred in the 
first row of chairs and sitting bolt upright gave 
the lecturer such fixed attention as to attract his 
notice. He was dilating on the emotional stress 
of Tennyson’s In Memoriam," and encouraged by 
Lillian's flattering absorption, added a few notes 
which he had not intended to give. Lillian 
grasped her pencil, put it on her pad with such 
force that the point broke and then scribbled for 
Winifred's benefit. 

How can I ever stand it till one o'clock ? 
What is that man talking about, anyway? I'll 
copy your notes." 

It was an eager five who climbed into the red 
car at one o'clock. The sixth, Clara Pike, not 
having any work on the Hill that day, was alone 
bearing the burden of meeting Mrs. Cregg. 

You may exceed the speed limit to-day, Jim,” 

174 


THE LETTER FROM BOOTHBAT 


advised Lillian breathlessly as she entered the 
car. 

You need do no such thing, Jim,^^ calmly cor- 
rected Rebecca Bicknell. “ I don’t care to be made 
the victim of fire, privation, and the police depart- 
ment all within seven days. Drive in accordance 
with the law.” 

Lillian, who was a law unto herself, changed 
her position on the back seat a dozen times in as 
many minutes. It’s the privation part of life 
that’s staring me in the face all the time now. 
How shall we do enough for the chapter house to 
quiet our consciences ? I’ve written home that I’ve 
become an — an incen — what do you call ’em ? ” 

^ Insane ’ would fit the case pretty well,” sug- 
gested Erma. 

You don’t mean ‘ inane,’ do you ? ” asked 
Rebecca innocently. 

“ ‘ Incendiary ! ’ ” cried Lillian triumphantly. 
“ I can always think what I want to say if I have 
time and opportunity.” 

‘‘ I notice,” Rebecca mentioned, “ that you 
always take the time and opportunity after you’ve 
done the saying ! ” 

The automobile left the city limits behind and 
rolled smoothly along the hard road. The girls 
bent their heads before the swift rush of a keen 
north wind and did not see a pedestrian in front 

175 


A SENIOR CO-ED 

of them until Jim swerved to one side and stopped 
the car. 

A poor pilgrim was perceived plodding pen- 
sively adown life’s pathway/’ from Belle in sing- 
song tones as she glanced up and in the pedestrian 
recognized Clara Pike. 

Clara climbed into the front seat. ‘‘ I am walk- 
ing for my health,” she announced, “ after not 
meeting Mrs. Cregg and ” 

Lillian did not allow her to finish. You’ll 
not be obliged to walk again, Clara, — at least not 
on Mrs. Cregg’s account. Her letter is at the 
Carters’.” 

Clara listened to such details as were known 
and lifted her hands in thankfulness. “ Variety is 
said to be the spice of life,” she sighed, but to 
me it’s getting to be monotonous ! I shall be glad 
to confine my attention to the known quantities 
of existence again.” 

“ And with Mrs. Cregg properly impressed and 
off our hands we can focus all of our attentions on 
the chapter house problem,” added Rebecca. 

By the way, girls,” Clara turned, her hand on 
the back of her seat, Miss Bates succeeded in 
meeting her niece. Miss Shreve came this after- 
noon.” 

Winifred leaned forward eagerly. What does 
she look like ? ” 


176 


THE LETTER FROM BOOTHE AT 


“ Quite as though she had taken two years^ work 
in one and now must make one yearns work spread 
over two/' quoted Clara. We saw her before she 
saw us. She was letting go of her face and the 
result caused Miss Bates to begin a dissertation on 
the Spinal Chair which she says she's going to 
found." 

Before Winifred could ask further questions the 
car swept up the driveway in front of the modern 
half of the Two-Faced House. 

Into the living-room the six girls rushed, Lillian 
in advance crying : 

“ Any mail for me, Mrs. Carter? " 

Mrs. Carter was not present, but Newsy was. 
He had just arrived from school, losing no time 
loitering by the wayside. With a piece of cake in 
one hand and a chunk of cheese in the other, he 
answered, hastily crowding the contents of his 
mouth into one cheek : 

It's in the dinin'-room, and it smells like 
sixty I " 

The letter, odoriferous with smoke, its edges well 
blackened, lay on the dining-room table when Lil- 
lian swooped down on it. Her fingers, suddenly 
willing to perform only the office of thumbs, 
bungled at their task, but her tongue wagged 
nimbly. 

'' Just the moment Sayles Cooper mentioned the 
177 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


window-seat I knew I I laid it first on the books, 
and then when the Beau got up to leave, I took it 
and was carrying it to the door when he asked to 
see my copy of ‘ In Memoriam ^ a minute to get a 
note that his text doesn^t contain, and I threw the 
letter on the 

The envelope, rent in a half dozen places, 
yielded, and the enclosed sheet was in Lillian^s 
hand. As she opened it, her face turned rapidly 
from a faint pink to a deep red, and, accompany- 
ing the change in color, came a more marked 
change in expression. With a gesture of amazed 
recollection, she laid the sheet on the table face up 
and stepped back, for once, wordless. The others 
crowded forward eagerly. Before them lay a bill 
for chocolates sent out by a candy store in Booth- 
bay Harbor, Maine I 




178 


CHAPTER XII 


ELISE SHREVE 

The following morning the rural delivery post- 
man brought a letter to Lillian addressed in Mrs. 
Gregg’s own hand and postmarked “ New York,” 
and the letter caused chagrin and vexation to the 
six. They read it in front of the fireplace in the 
colonial living-room. 

“Think of all the people we’ll have to tell!” 
mourned Belle Eaton. “ I feel as ’umble as Uriah 
Keep 1 ” 

“ We can telephone to the alumnae,” suggested 
Winifred. “ That will be less mortifying than to 
meet ’em face to face. I wonder if Mrs. Willow 
has her house decorated yet for the reception 1 ” 

“And there are the boys,” wailed Rebecca. 
“ They’ve tramped through wind and weather to 
do us a service.” 

“ I don’t think Mrs. Cregg is as nice as she used 
to be,” Lillian broke out in an exasperated tone. 
“ Winifred, won’t you go alone and tell the chan- 
cellor ? ” 

Winifred assented. “ When I go to the office to 
work.” 


179 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


‘‘Oh, dear I The calamity indicated by the 
letter grew on Lillian with the lapse of the mo- 
ments. “ Not only shall I be obliged to pay that 
chocolate bill, but there’s Billy ! We can’t take 
the credit of bringing him to Huntingdon. No, 
Mrs. Cregg isn’t nearly so fine as I have repre- 
sented her, girls. Dear me I ” 

“ So I say — dear me I ” Erma Cunningham 
poked at the backlog violently. “ Here we’ve 
burned the chapter house up — or down, rather- — 
and put ourselves under no end of obligation all 
for nothing. Yes, I agree with you, Lillian. I 
never expect to see Mrs. Cregg, but I think she’s 
horrid ! ” 

A wavering howl from the driveway summoned 
them, and the six dolefully and silently started for 
the Hill in the red car. 

Winifred found the private office not yet occu- 
pied, and sitting down in the chancellor’s chair, 
pulled the telephone toward her and called up Mrs. 
Ashley Grey. 

“ Louise, is this you ? ” she asked in an un- 
buoyant voice. 

“ It is none other.” 

“ Well-^how are you? ” fenced Winifred dread- 
ing to relate her news. 

“ I am fresh, fair and expect to be forty if I live 
long enough ! Where’s Mrs. Cregg ? ” 
i8o 


ELISE SHREFE 


Winifred's voice showed still deeper despond- 
ency. In New York, where she intends staying I " 
“Why, Winifred Lowe!" Louise's tone awak- 
ened to liveliest interest. “ What has hap- 
pened ? " 

“ She writes that she has taken cold, must have 
a dressmaker immediately, and meet her dear son 
in the sweet by and by. These three calamities 
will prevent her from following the program which 
still looks unutterably attractive to her, etc. and 
etc. I " 

This explanation was accompanied by a running 
murmur of comments from Louise. “ Isn't that 
the meanest 1 " she broke out the moment Winifred 
ceased. “ Ashley will be awfully disappointed. 

He had hoped for so much Did she make 

any mention of Dr. Gregg's future movements ? " 

“ No, not one word," Winifred was beginning, 
when a movement behind her caused her to drop 
the receiver and spring up to face the chancellor. 

“ As usual, Winifred," he said with a faint smile, 
“the eavesdropper did not hear good news, al- 
though it was not about himself So Mrs. Gregg has 
dropped out of ofir program ? " 

He sank into the chair which Winifred had 
vacated and rested his head on his hand, his elbow 
on the arm of the chair. “ I'm sorry — more than 
sorry," he muttered. “I had hoped " He 

i8i 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


interrupted himself and looked up. Did Mrs. 
Cregg mention the date of her son’s landing ? ” 
Winifred recalled the date and, leaving the 
chancellor deep in thought, sat down at her type- 
writer. 

** The college is not asking for money this year,” 
she told herself — only a man, and Alpha Gamma 
is fated not to be of any assistance ! ” 

Presently, having finished her office work, she 
was retiring to the girls’ waiting-rooms when 
Landon waylaid her. 

What’s this that Miss Antwerp tells me ? ” he 
demanded. “ Isn’t Mrs. Cregg coming? ” 

Winifred shook her head. I’m awfully sorry, 
Landon,” she began remorsefully. There you 

boys have had all your trouble ” 

That’s nothing,” he interrupted hastily. “ I’m 
not thinking of that. I’m thinking about mother 
and Miss Shreve.” 

Winifred stopped abruptly and faced him. Oh ! 
Miss Shreve I And she came yesterday. Clara 
saw her. I had forgotten the connection.” She 
continued to stare at Landon. That throws us 
on our own resources, doesn’t it ? We’ll not have 
Mrs. Cregg to consult.” 

Landon pocketed his hands with a shrug of his 
broad shoulders. Not on my resources, for I 
have none where girls are concerned I ” He re- 
182 


ELISE SHREVE 


turned Winifred's gaze ruefully. And as for 
mother — she's at her wit's ends not being able to 
get hold of Miss Shreve at all. But " — here 
Landon grinned hopefully — “ you're left ! " 

Winifred walked slowly toward the waiting- 
rooms. I shall call on her this very evening if I 

can arrange my work " 

'‘Need an escort, don't you?" asked Landon 
eagerly. “ You can't go away out on the Green 
Valley Road alone." 

“ Trolleys all the way," she returned, “ and if I 
did have an escort it wouldn't be you this time ! 
I don't want Miss Shreve to suspect at first that I 
know a Stearns. So," she stopped at the waiting- 
room door, “ if you see me around the halls here at 
any time with a strange young woman, please act 
as though I were not inhabiting the same planet." 

As the door closed behind her, Landon turned 
away with a half smile. “ I'm afraid I’ll not make 
a conspicuous success acting that way,” he thought. 

In the outer waiting-room Winifred found Lillian 
Antwerp occupying the center of a laughing group. 
She was describing Mr. Carter's dairy appliances — 
as she saw them — and urging her listeners to come 
and prove the truth of her assertions for themselves. 
M. Gussie Barker sat on the window sill interject- 
ing appropriate remarks and adding appreciative 
foot-notes. 


183 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


Mr. Carter dotes on visitors to his premises/’ 
Lillian declared. He would rather show a visitor 
over his place than eat quail on toast I ” Thus far 
Lillian ‘‘ held the mirror up ” to facts. 

“And why/’ asked M. Gussie, “should one visit 
the yellow barn under the cow weather-vane? 
And why is Mr. Carter so vain of that vane ? ” 

“ Oh I Oh ! ” chorused the group. “ Listen I 
Puns ! ” 

Lillian continued impressively with her embroid- 
ered description. “ Under that vain cow vane are 
fifty Jerseys all decorated with medals from the 
state fair exhibits, ^ if I do say it as shouldn’t ’ I 
The wearers have descended from ancestors that 
have names printed in some stock blue book or 
other. But the yellow barn ! Girls, you ought to 
voyage out to Cartersville and visit us, really ! 
That barn is a. perfect ballroom in expanse and 
appointments and ” 

“ Your statements harmonize, being clad in fancy 
ball costume,” interrupted Gussie. 

“ It has a cement fioor,” Lillian went on un- 
heeding the interruption, “ and rows of show 
windows ” 

“ Plate glass ? ” sotto voce from M. Gussie. 

“ behind the cows, and a long platform for 

’em to stand on, and each cow has an individual 
drinking cup and ” 

184 


ELISE SHREVE 


Lillian paused to catch her breath while her 
audience lost theirs. 

What about the orchestra ? from the window 

sill. 

“ It’s all there,” replied Lillian promptly. 
“ There are fifty pieces all tuned to the key of 
' moo ’ ! 

“ When milking time comes,” she continued as 
soon as she could be heard, “ seven hired men 
bring the cows in ” 

“ By hand or machinery ? ” asked Gussie. 

Drive ’em in, and the ball opens by each cow 
putting his head ” 

It’s perfectly proper in this connection to use 
the feminine pronoun,” interrupted Winifred. 

her head, then, in her own stanchions, 

and then the water is turned on ahead of ’em and 
they drink ” 

It’s so much better for the customer,” Gussie 
cut in, “ to have the water served to the cow rather 
than to the milk can ! ” 

“ Attention ! ” commanded Lillian. “ Then the 
cows are fed in individual feed places that have 
been all washed and rinsed and wiped b}^ the 
women on the place. Then the men sterilize the 
cows ” 

Her voice was drowned in a cry of, “^Sterilize’ I 
Lillian Antwerp I ” 


185 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


Lillian nodded obstinately. They do, for I’ve 
seen it done. The cows are sterilized before they 
are milked.” 

M. Gussie nearly fell off the window sill. Al- 
low me to present the Baroness Munchausen, Prin- 
cess of Story Tellers,” she gasped. ‘‘Winifred, 
whatever does the Baroness mean ? ” 

Winifred wiped her eyes, and gathered up her 
books preparatory to finding a less hilarious re- 
gion. “ She probably means the process of wash- 
ing through which the cows are put each day.” 

“ Well,” defended Lillian, “ isn’t that being 
sterilized ? ” 

“ It might be,” retorted Winifred, “ if the water 
were above the boiling point ! ” 

As she entered the inner waiting-room where 
silence must always reign, she heard M. Gussie say, 
“ And the end of this fairy story is a bottle of certi- 
fied milk brought to your door the next morning 
and handed in for the modest sum of fifteen cents 
a quart. Bravo ! Set me down for a visit to the 
sterilizing camp soon.” 

This nonsense, founded on fact, served to remind 
Winifred of something she had forgotten, namely, 
the number of the Orpingtons. “ I must ask Mr. 
Carter,” she told herself, “ the first thing to-night 
before I forget again — and count them.” 

When she arrived in Cartersville, Moses was 
1 86 


ELISE SHREFE 


superintending the feeding and washing of his fine 
herd of Jerseys. The cows stood munching their 
portions of rich, juicy fodder from the tall silo at 
the end of the barn, and the men had retired to 
don their white uniforms. Through a row of win- 
dows opposite the cows, Winifred looked into a 
long room where white clad women were setting 
rows of bottles out on counters preparatory to re- 
ceiving the milk which would be passed through 
the windows as soon as it came from the cows. 

“ No other such barn as this in this part of the 
state if I do say it as shouldn't,” Moses boomed. He 
was going from cow to cow on a tour of inspection. 

There ain't a blamed improvement that I ever 
heard of that ain't here. State inspector is a-puttin' 
this in print as a model barn and dairy.'' Moses 
was overflowing with exultation. Chap was here 
to-day. Brought a reporter with 'im and a pho- 
tographer and what not ! They're goin' t' show 
my premises up in fine shape. Inspector said all 
he could see that was lackin' is air cushions blowed 
up fer the cows t' take a nap on ! '' 

Here the owner stepped back a safe distance 
from the heads of the cows before letting out a de- 
lighted guffaw, for the medaled Jerseys must not 
have their feelings de-tranquilized before being 
milked. 

Then, before Winifred could mention Orping- 
187 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


tons, Mr. Carter had changed the subject with 
lightning rapidity. Now that this Mrs. Cregg 
hain’t a hindrance no longer,” he began cautiously 
lowering his voice, what does she say to that 
little project I’ve mentioned to ye? ” 

Winifred began to smile. The “tower” was 
ever present in her host’s thoughts. “ I spoke to 
her again this morning, and I think we can get 
her ready to go in a week, perhaps.” 

Alarm and joy together twisted Mr. Carter’s 
face. “ Ready ? ” he ejaculated. “ What under 
the canopy has she hatched up now ? She can 
draw checks on the bank exactl}’' as I do. What 
hasn’t she got that she thinks she ought to have? ” 
Winifred laughed outright. “ Everything ex- 
cept a willing mind, Mr. Carter. I think it will 
take her a week to get her mind made up to budge 
and her suit-case packed. I should put the date 

of departure about, let’s see ” Moses listened 

intently. “ About a week from to-morrow. Then 
we must plan and talk exactly as though it were 
all settled, and I think that will influence her.” 

He shook his head gloomily and sighed. 
“ Sairy Mary ain’t easily influenced,” he mourned. 
“ But I’ll do as you say. She can’t more’n stay to 
home, after all.” 

Here Mr. Carter was reminded of his duties by 
the procession of white coated and capped men 
1 88 


ELISE SHREVE 


that filed behind the cows, milk pails in hand. 
Hurrying forward, he left Winifred to go back to 
the house wondering absently what errand had 
taken her to the barn. 

After an early supper she started for the Green 
Valley Road and Susan Bates’. Near the Lacka- 
wanna station she changed trolleys and was soon 
at the door of a neat little cottage near the former 
home of Mrs. Carter. A lamp was burning brightly 
in a room facing the road, and the shade had 
not been lowered. Beside the table Miss Bates 
rocked, mending stockings, a shadow on her hand- 
some face. In the front room up-stairs there was 
a light, also. The shades were lowered over the 
windows, but between the light and the shades a 
figure moved restlessly to and fro. 

I’m glad you’ve come,” declared Miss Bates 
admitting Winifred. She placed a slight empha- 
sis on the “ you.” Sarah Mary says you’re — hum 
— yes ! ” Miss Bates sat down without finishing, 
and looked the caller over. She did not summon 
her niece at once, but continued her scrutiny. “ I 
hope you’ll like Elise,” she burst out abruptly 
after a moment. 

Then she lowered her voice in a way which re- 
minded Winifred of Moses Carter. She leaned 
forward, her hands clasped about her knees. Into 
her eyes came a twinkle which drew a response 
189 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


before she spoke. “ There’s complications up-stairs 
that ain’t in my line to manage.” 

“ Yes,” hesitated Winifred blankly. 

am an old maid.” Miss Bates raised proud 
eyebrows albeit her eyes still twinkled. I always 
have been and always shall be I ” 

Then, without further enlightening her bewil- 
dered caller, she picked up her unmended stocking, 
put on a pair of eye-glasses, and raised a clear 
voice, “ Elise ! ” 

Another instant, her face filled with instinctive 
liking for the newcomer, Winifred arose to greet 
Elise Shreve. 

Unlike her aunt, Elise was tall and splendidly 
proportioned except for a thinness about the face, 
the result of doing two years’ work in one. Her 
hair was a soft blue-black, straight and smooth, 
parted in the middle and combed low over her 
ears, and dressed in a Psyche knot at the nape of 
the neck, setting off to advantage a fine profile. 
Her eyes were black and expressive, heavily veiled 
with long black lashes. There was, however, about 
the girl an air of proud reserve which did not 
mirror her real self. It was a veil by which she 
sought to cover her failures and struggles from a 
world from which she thought she wished no 
sympathy. 

But Miss Bates’ informal introduction somewhat 
190 


ELISE SHREFE 


shattered her niece's attitude. This is another 
girl," she shrugged pointing the stocking at Wini- 
fred, “ who is working her own way through col- 
lege and cramming her head all ready to go to 
smash the first chance she gets." 

Both girls laughed, and at once plunged into 
an exchange of college lore, to which Miss Bates 
listened tolerantly, occasionally throwing in a re- 
mark which did not increase the gravity of the 
conversation, but which threw some light on 
Elise's accomplishments. 

She can do more with a yard of cloth than I 
can with a whole bolt," she exclaimed finally. 
“ If Columbia had given Elise as much nerve as 
knowledge I should be satisfied. Why, if it wasn’t 
for the difficulty of old dogs learning new tricks 
I should take cooking lessons of her myself. She 
got dinner to-day." Here Miss Bates laughed. 

I allowed her to, as long as there wasn’t much 
in the house to do with, but land sakes ! That 
child got up a good dinner. Just what she threw 
together I can’t figure out." The speaker gesticu- 
lated with the stocking. The other hand held 
the eye-glasses. She’s been here only two days, 
but that’s enough to decide me. If I were young 
— which I’m not — and going to marry — ^which the 
saints forbid ! — I should pack my trunk and start 
for some Domestic Art and Science Courses, even 
191 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


if my future husband — which I never expect to 
possess ! — had to pay the bills. He’d be in pocket 
if he did. Any one who can get up a good dinner 
out of nothing plus, and fix up her room with 
dimity so it looks like a summer bower, and 
make a Paris creation out of a dress her aunt cast 
off two years ago as worthless, ought to ” 

Here Miss Bates was obliged to raise her voice to 
make her conclusion heard, Ought either to teach 
others how to do likewise, or marry and let some 
wise or otherwise man build up a bank account.” 

At this thrust the color rose faintly in Elise’s 
pale cheeks while Winifred looked with interest at 
her dress. It was black, the cloth was worn and 
even darned in spots, but it was well made and be- 
coming. 

When, at last, Elise ran up-stairs after her hat and 
coat to accompany her guest to the car, the aunt 
hastily removed her glasses and leaned forward. 

She acts more human with you than I’ve seen 
her,” she whispered. “ Keep on, won’t you ? ” 

I intend to,” Winifred whispered back. 

Miss Bates left her chair impulsively and leaned 
over her guest. The shrewd, humorous twinkle 
reappeared in her eyes. “ How ought a girl to feel 
that keeps a man’s picture at the bottom of her 
hat tray face down ? ” she asked. 

Winifred suppressed a laugh and made no reply, 
192 



7'HE GIRLS LOITERED 










ELISE SHREVE 


but despite the absurdity of the question and its 
seeming lack of point, she felt that Miss Bates was 
holding in reserve much more than appeared on 
the surface. 

It was a warm moonlit night with a soft mois- 
ture-laden air that blew up from the southland, 
and the girls loitered until the car which they were 
supposed to be catching sped past unchallenged. 

Elise’s coat was no younger than Winifred’s, but 
its wearer had remodeled it until it bore the sem- 
blance of youth. Elise’s hat was a creation, also, 
of a year ago remade by herself. Winifred, like 
Elise, was dependent on her own resources, and 
Winifred’s hand was drawn in warm friendliness 
through the other’s arm. Winifred’s words and 
silences also bore a delicate understanding. Small 
wonder that the homeless and discouraged older 
girl yielded to the spell of the sympathy she be- 
lieved she did not want. Small wonder that two 
cars more flashed past without the would-be pas- 
sengers. The girls lingered under a big elm tree 
with the open country around them, and the 
neighborly lights twinkling down the road which 
stretched out in a broad white path beside the 
trolley rails, while Elise lifted the flood-gates of 
her experience a trifle and let out a little of her 
overwrought feelings. 

I have not told any one this much,” she con- 
193 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


fessed, and I scarcely know why Vm telling you 
but — I can’t help it.” 

Winifred came closer. It’s because you’ve 
got to talk or bust, Newsy would say I ” 

Elise laughed tremulously. I’m not so far 
broken down as to take the desire nor ability to 
work away. It was appearing before the large 
classes that I could not endure. When I left 
Columbia, a fine position was offered me in Moore 
College, and I went to Indiana full of hopes and 
plans. But I have always been awfully subject to 
stage fright — acute paralyzing stage fright, and 
when I came before a class of one hundred girls to 
give my first lecture on the nutritive properties of 
difierent food stuffs, I couldn’t speak. I simply 
went to pieces.” 

She covered her face with her hands for a mo- 
ment, comforted by Winifred’s arm about her 
shoulders. 

The same thing happened again, and I saw I 
had not the physical strength now to overcome 
that mental weakness, and there were so many big 
classes. So I was obliged to leave — to fail.” There 
was a catch in her voice. But work I can and 
must.” Her young voice rang courageously. “ If 
I can’t fill an important position such as Moore 
College offers, I can find a little nook in which I 
can work and not be a burden on any one.” 

194 


ELISE SHREVE 


Finally as a headlight swept around a curve 
half a mile away, Winifred bade Elise good-night. 
“ It won’t do for me to stay any later or Mr. Car- 
ter will be coming after me. I must take this 
car.” 

She impulsively pulled Elise’s head down and 
kissed her before signaling to the conductor, who 
was hanging out of the rear door looking for pas- 
sengers under the sign, “ Cars Stop Here.” 

Back to her aunt’s walked the stranger slowly, 
the very kernel of her heart warmed by the 
friendly and unreserved liking accorded her by the 
fair-haired, sweet-faced caller who had settled back 
in the seat of the car and was staring out of the 
window, lost in thought. 

“ I wonder,” she asked herself, how matters 
stand with the man whose photograph is in the 
hat tray ? ” 


195 


CHAPTER XIII 


A DEFERRED WEDDING TOUR 

The following morning at the breakfast table, 
Winifred announced quite casually that in a few 
days Mr. and Mrs. Carter expected to go to New 
York and leave the seniors to keep house and look 
after things in general. The girls, having been 
privately warned, behaved remarkably well, show- 
ing exactly correct proportions of surprise, delight, 
and willingness to assume any duty which might 
devolve on them. Even Lillian made no blunder. 
The only one who was not able to act his part well 
was Mr. Carter. His face became one large and 
agonized interrogation mark despite Winifred^s 
warning foot. It was difficult for Moses to take 
anything for granted which concerned his wife. 

From the head of the table came a series of pro- 
tests at regular intervals like shots from a Gatling 
gun. 

“ I canT no-ways get ready so soon,’’ was Mrs. 
Carter’s immediate complaint. 

“ We will all fall to and help you I ” countered 
Rebecca Bicknell. “ I think a trip to New York 
is too lovely to be true ” 


196 


A DEFERRED WEDDING TOUR 

“ I wish it was-n’t true ! 

Why, if I had such a trip ahead of me,'' Lil- 
lian began with enthusiasm, I should " — here 
she paused and ended unexpectedly, all the en- 
thusiasm departing — “give it up, and put the 
money in the chapter house curtains." 

Mrs. Carter raised her head so quickly that her 
knob of hair slid over her right ear. “ Ex-actly 
what I'll do I " she exclaimed hopefully, “ and 
then the money will be doing some one some 
good." 

“If that chapter house has got to have curtains," 
began Moses in alarm, “ I'll " 

Here Winifred raised her voice in a welcome 
interruption, ignoring curtains. “On which road 
shall you go, Mr. Carter?" 

“ Any road that she says," replied that harassed 
gentleman, “ and if none of the three don't suit 
'er, why, hang it all I I'll charter an air-ship." 

Mrs. Carter's face relaxed, but she went on ap- 
plying “ hindrances " although in a weaker voice. 

“ Some of you'll let the heat-er go out, and my 
plants will freeze." 

“ It's not cold enough to freeze indoors," laughed 
Winifred, “ and, besides, the heater shall be kept 
steadily at its business." 

“ I'll tend t' the heater," piped a shrill voice at 
Mr. Carter's elbow. “ I'll make it zip 1 " 

197 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


Good for you, John,” commented Erma ; Idl 
be your second, and a close second, too.” 

“ I don’t think it’s safe for six girls here all 
a-lone ” 

‘‘Then we’ll add a seventh,” Winifred inter- 
rupted promptly. “ I’ll ask Gussie to stay with 
us and bring along her guns. She has two and 
can use ’em, what is better.” 

“ Worse ! ” corrected Mrs. Carter with a shiver. 
“ Guns is dan-gerous things for a pas-sel of girls to 
have a-round.” 

“ Tell ’er to leave them at home, then, and bring 
herself,” amended Clara Pike. “ I should feel per- 
fectly safe if we had M. Gussie Barker in the house 
without a gun.” 

“ Shucks ! ” vociferated Moses emphatically. 
“Afraid, with the tenant houses within call? 
They can have Breiman and his wife sleep in 
t’other house. They can have anything any 
blamed way they want ! We’re off to New York 
on a tower ! ” 

“ We hain’t gone yet,” replied Mrs. Carter, set- 
tling back and feeding Pete bits of meat. “ Druisy, 
he’s been ailing for some time. I won’t go un-less 
Druisy either dies or gets well.” 

Moses cast an unfriendly glance at the bird cage 
wherein his wife’s pet canary presented a some- 
what wilted appearance. As they arose from the 
198 


A DEFERRED WEDDING TOUR 


table, he said in a low tone to Winifred, She said 
either got well or died ! and Winifred giggled 
audibly. 

The six journeyed to the Hill that morning 
together in the big red car, and when they spoke 
of the projected tower,^’ the ^‘shover’^ turned 
his head quickly and presented a listening ear to 
the tonneau. 

** We can keep house beautifully,’’ declared Lil- 
lian sanguinely, with Winifred as stewardess 

same as in the chapter house and Oh, girls ! 

I forgot. In a letter I got this morning papa says 
I may make a Christmas present of a bookcase to 
the chapter house, and he doesn’t speak of my go- 
ing without anything to pay for it, either ! I’m 
so glad papa is getting the Christmas spirit as early 
as October ! ” 

This changed the current of the conversation 
into a channel where it had flowed easily since 
Mrs. Cregg had cancelled her engagement, and 
Jim turned his ear away reluctantly unable to 
learn more concerning the absence of his employer. 

Will you telephone the bookcase to the 
alumnae right away ? ” asked Rebecca. Then if 
their Christmas spirit should happen to be stirring, 
it won’t move in that direction.” 

Girls, why can’t some one think of some 
money-making scheme for us to adopt? ’’asked 
199 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


Belle Eaton. Where are our brains this year ? 
We used to think.’' 

Mine are floating in a haze of smoke yet,” de- 
clared Winifred as the car stopped in front of the 
Hall of Languages. 

It was Landon who ran down the steps and 
gallantly opened the door of the tonneau. It was 
Landon, also, who managed, with a skill born of 
long practice, to subtract Winifred from the rest 
and accompany her through the halls and up the 
stairs. 

Did you see her — Elise Shreve ? ” he asked 
eagerly. 

I did — and, Landon, I was attracted to her im- 
mediately. I don’t think you boys half under- 
stand that sort of friendship, but — well — I can’t 
explain it, only to say that we were friends at 
once.” 

Some like Csesar, hey ? ” asked Landon good- 
naturedly. You went, you saw and you ” 

“ Were conquered,” Winifred cut in with a gay 
little laugh. “ You have misquoted Csesar cor- 
rectly I ” 

Slowly they mounted two flights of stairs, lost in 
a swarm of chattering, studying, lounging students, 
awaiting the summons of the gong. 

In a low voice Winifred related much about Miss 
Shreve. She thinks she may be able to form 


A DEFERRED WEDDING TOUR 


housekeeping classes here in the city, small ones, 
or teach in the cooking school. Or, failing in that, 
she may bake for the Woman's Exchange, or even 
go out as a cook, anything to support herself and 
be independent." 

And I suppose you sympathized with her in 
all those absurd projects," scoffed Landon. 

I certainly did. None of the projects are 
absurd either, only not one of them would more 
than support her, let alone paying her debts." 
The speaker's voice was troubled. 

Her debts make me tired ! " said Landon half 
angrily. “ Because she needn't be in debt were it 
not for her obstinacy ! " 

There we disagree," retorted Winifred briskly, 
adding, But, Landon, I have a glimmer of an idea 
as to how your mother might, under some circum- 
stances, help her." 

Landon turned alertly. Now you're talking ! " 
he exclaimed. Let's have it." 

It's in a state of glimmerhood," Winifred ex- 
plained as they mounted to the third floor, be- 
cause I can't see at present how it's to be applied. 
But just supposing she got into a position, we'll 
say as teacher in the cooking school here, your 
mother might cause a raise in salary through the 
management, and she would never know where the 
raise came from " 


301 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


“ The very thing ! ” Landon stopped short on 
the last landing and stared down at Winifred. 

And if she baked for the what-d’ye-call-it, I might 

arrange somehow for all her output of stuff 

Eureka ! Winifred, that^s an idea that we must 
work somehow. Maybe a position could be created 
for her,^^ here he looked vague and perplexed, ^‘only 
a fellow doesn’t knowhow to go aboutthose things 
— but so far as the money goes, mother would 

furnish the salary ” 

Wait a while for developments,” advised Wini- 
fred. 

As she was turning toward the door of the 
modern history room, Landon stopped her with a 
^‘Just an instant, Winifred. We may get Dr. 
Gregg here yet, in spite of his mother’s change of 
plans. I had it from headquarters this morning 
that Grey is going down to New York, and, with 
Perry and some of the other trustees, is going to 
pounce on the traveler almost as soon as he reaches 
New York. I was told — well — in connection with 

father ” Landon paused. 

You needn’t go on,” Winifred assured him. 
“ In connection with having your father do a lit- 
tle more financially in the line of inducements, to 
X. Y. Z. Oh, I understand ! ” and she disappeared 
in the lecture room. 

That afternoon Winifred was the last girl to 
202 


A DEFERRED WEDDING TOUR 


reach Cartersville. Knowing that this would be 
the case, she had hunted up Belle at noon and in- 
structed her in the mysteries of the Orpingtons’ 
four o’clock diet. 

** You’ll find the key to their palace in my right 
rubber boot. The boots hang behind the wood-shed 
door.” 

“ Do you keep the hens locked up in the day- 
time ? ” asked Belle in an astonished voice. 

‘‘ Ten dollars apiece, regardless, Orpingtons are ! ” 
laughed Winifred. We keep the house locked 
up at all times. They have a high fenced yard in 
which their majesties may roam during the day. 
They get into it through a tiny door not big enough 
to admit more than a man’s head. But that also 
is shut .at night.” 

Then I’m to feed them, only ? ” asked Belle. 

‘‘ Feed and drink them ! I’ll be there in time 
to do the cleaning and give them burnt bone and 
cracked shell and fresh sawdust and clean sand 
and ” 

Belle regarded the speaker with amused but ad- 
miring eyes. “ Is there another girl in college 
who would do such a thing as that just from a 
sense of duty to a chapter house which she did not 
burn down ? ” 

Winifred turned away laughing. Yes, lots of 
girls, provided they liked the work as well as I do.” 

203 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


There’s one lovely thing about her,” thought 
Belle as Winifred left her, whatever she does, 
she’s never a martyr at it, and so no one around 
her feels uncomfortable.” 

When Winifred reached the Two-Faced House, 
it was nearly six and quite dark, but as the hen- 
houses, like all the buildings at Cartersville, were 
lighted by electricity, the dusk would not affect 
the doing of her daily work. Therefore, she en- 
tered the wood-shed, deposited her books on a shelf, 
laid aside her hat and coat, and proceeded at once 
to array herself suitably for the occasion. During 
the day a heavy rain had fallen, and to avoid the 
mud she followed a cinder path which led circui- 
tously to all the buildings on the premises. It took 
her past two silos, the hog house, and the sheep 
house before she reached the sign of the white cock. 

In front of the sheep house, which formed an 
ell of the cow barn, she paused and looked over 
the stockade at Rameses the Great, who was wan- 
dering about his yard, the lonely and belligerent 
monarch of all he surveyed. As soon as he had 
surveyed Winifred, he lowered his great head with 
its curling horns almost hidden in his fleecy white 
wool, and charged at the stockade underneath her 
inquiring face. The planks, battered by much 
fruitless onslaught, shook, but, to the never failing 
surprise of the champion hunter ” they did not 
204 


A DEFERRED WEDDING TOUR 


give way. Full of rage now at the fence he gave 
it his undivided attention, while Winifred passed 
on. 

It wouldn^t be pleasant, King Rameses,’’ she 
said aloud, “ to meet you in the open.^' 

Rounding a corner of the hen-house, she saw a 
figure, or it might have been only a shadow, fade 
away around the corner of the far end of the long 
building. But her attention was at once distracted 
by a loud “ baa,^’ as Cuddles, a son of Rameses and 
a pet of Mrs. Carter, bounded forward confidently, 
its head down like its sirens, intent only on play. 
It came from the other end of the building. It 
was found wherever a human hand was extended 
in friendly caress, for Cuddles, despite his full size 
and growing horns, had not yet outgrown his 
lamb-like habits. He had the run of the premises 
up to the wood-shed door. That door was the 
meeting ground for mistress and lamb. 

Oh, Cuddles ! cried Winifred, her voice shak- 
ing, “ for just one moment I thought you were 
Rameses. Dear me I You made my heart go 
pit-a-pat for certain.^’ She rubbed the woolly head. 
“ You ought not to grow so fast and look so for- 
midable, Cuddles.” 

Back of the hen-house a light footstep sounded. 
Winifred scarcely heard it, but Cuddles did and 
was off with an interested “ baa,” while Winifred 
205 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


unlocked the door of the hen-house, and turned 
on the light. 

She was washing the porcelain nest eggs and 
thinking how astonished she would be to find a 
real egg in the nests of the thoroughbreds when 
Belle’s voice sounded at the door, and Belle’s face 
appeared within the circle of light. It was a face 
which revealed amusement and concern. Wini- 
fred, as soon as you can go in, Mrs. Carter wants 
to see you. It’s the funniest situation, and yet I 
feel awfully sorry for Mr. Carter. You see Druisy 
is as well as ever this afternoon, and eating its head 
off, and Mrs. Carter’s last ditch is taken and her 
last legal defense is gone. But there’s danger now 
of plain mutiny. Mr. Carter is sitting in low 
spirits and his stocking feet in the colonial room, 
and Mrs. Carter has retired to her room the image 
of exasperation over that trip. I never saw any one 
that so hated to stir out of her tracks. I think 
she’s going to refuse to go.” 

Five minutes later Winifred was viewing the 
image of exasperation. Mrs. Carter sat on a low 
rocker, her slippered feet on the round of a chair 
over which was spread her best silk dress. Her 
hair hung dejectedly off the crown of her head a^ 
the rear. Her face showed no inclination to reveal 
the furrows which marked her old-time dimples. 
Pete, as if partaking of her mood, sulked in a corner 
206 


A DEFERRED WEDDING TOUR 

and lashed his tail. Just inside the door Wini- 
fred paused, took in the significance of the scene, 
dropped to the floor and rocked back and forth in 
a gale of merriment. Pete stiffened his tail, hesh 
tated, and sitting down on it, began to wash his 
face. Mrs. Carter ceased to creak her rocker and 
began to shake, while the furrows extended from 
the corners of her mouth to her ears. She had 
sent for Winifred with the express determination 
of telling her that she should not be bound up in 
leather shoes and silk dresses and be packed off* on 
a belated wedding tour against her will. What 
she actually said when Winifred was in a condi- 
tion to hear and she to speak was : 

“ Now get your-self up here and tell me just what 
I bet-ter take if I’ve got to go ! ” 

In the colonial living-room, Belle, having listened 
shamelessly at Mrs. Carter’s door, until that lady 
gave utterance to this expression of surrender, 
cheered the disheartened Moses to such an extent 
that she received an immediate and unexpected 
reward. This reward and the doubtful conditions 
attached thereto she reported soon after in her own 
room, where the rest of the girls had congregated 
waiting to hear the outcome of Winifred’s interview 
with their hostess. 

“ The very idea ! Pick apples ! ” exclaimed 
Lillian. Why, we can’t ! ” 

207 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


‘‘ This is exactly the opportunity you were ready 
to embrace not many days ago/^ Rebecca reminded 
her. “ You thought you would like a taste of the 
simple life.’’ 

Lillian frowned. “ I’m not so much in love 
with the simple life as I was — and I want to go 

shopping Saturday afternoon, and ” 

So do I,” exclaimed Clara Pike energetically, 
“ but I’m not going I I shall stay right here and 
pick the apples, Baldwins, Number 1; letter A, I 
believe you said. Belle, and make a dollar for the 
chapter house if I’m able, even if it does make my 
back ache and soil my hands. You see, Mr. Carter 
judges us all by Winifred’s standard, and for once 
I’m going to live up to it.” 

Therefore, when Winifred came in, after having 
selected and laid aside the garments suited to Mrs. 
Carter’s wedding journey, she found the girls 
simulating enthusiasm over the way opened by Mr. 
Carter to earn curtains for the chapter house. 

“ We may have all the apples we can pick Satur- 
day afternoon,” explained Belle. “ That is Mr. 
Carter’s free-will offering for your triumph over 
Mrs. Carter’s hindrances. He will give the apple 
pickers directions to leave the Baldwins on the west 
side of the trees on the upper row where we can 
reach ’em from the ground, and we are to put ’em 
into piles. Then, in the fulness of time, the profes- 
' 208 


A DEFERRED WEDDING TOUR 


sional packers will sort them and put them up in 
barrels and they will be carted away and in another 
fulness of time we'll receive — well, put up a question 
mark there ! " 

“ Why, Belle Eaton," Winifred stopped short. 

You really don't seem to realize what lies in that 
oiFer for us. Don't you know that apples are very, 
very scarce this year ? Don't you know that Mr. 
Carter has about the only fine crop in this part of 
the country ? " 

“ Blooded apples, are they ? " muttered Rebecca. 

‘‘ And he has his orchards patrolled at night 
because they are so near the city. And the A 
Number 1 Baldwins bring a good price per bar- 
rel ! " 

“ I'm sitting up and taking notice," cried Lillian. 

Winifred, you talk like a full-blooded farmer. 
How did you know all that?" 

“ By listening to Mr. Carter." 

Belle arose. I'm going down now and really 
thank him. I didn't do it properly before because 
a few apples didn't look very large to me — except 
in the laW of picking 'em ! " and she disappeared. 

Saturday dawned sunny and warm. During 
the morning the seniors studied, cleaned their 
rooms and decided on their apple picking costumes, 
and tried in vain to learn the cause of the Twisters' 
mysterious movements. 

209 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


“ They’ve broken out in a new spot,” warned 
Rebecca. Beware I ” 

The two had been suspiciously docile since their 
arrival at the Two-Faced House. On this particular 
Saturday, however, they blossomed into their 
natural selves. They giggled much, consulted in 
whispers, and behaved in a fashion that stamped 
them, not as college seniors, but as mischievous 
girls. Toward noon they cornered Newsy, and 
caused that young man of the house to laugh 
shrilly. Belle Eaton, in passing, heard Erma say: 

Mind now, John, not earlier than four o’clock,” 
a remark which excited the liveliest curiosity. 

Shortly afterward. Newsy, grinning broadly, 
disappeared with the Twisters in the direction of 
the barns. 

At twelve sharp, the seniors ate dinner in order 
to make the afternoon as long as possible. When 
this reason was announced, Moses Carter’s face 
screwed into an amused interrogation point. 

‘‘Two hours after you commence if at least three 
of you hainit settin’ down lookin’ at the scenery 
I’ll eat the greaser I ” 

“ I wish,” groaned Lillian as she toiled up the 
hill amid the apple trees, “ that I had done noth- 
ing this morning except to rest.” 

“ I wish I had observed you doing something 
else ! ” retorted her roommate. 


210 


A DEFERRED WEDDING TOUR 


The six stopped at the last row of trees near the 
summit of the hill which overlooked the lovely 
autumn tinted valley. Far below them the trolley 
rails formed two silver threads running through 
the golden sunlight. At the right was the city 
with the towers and spires of the Hill showing 
faintly in the mellow haze. At the left were the 
houses and barns of Cartersville. 

“ We can almost fall down the chimney of the 
colonial house, can’t we ! ” exclaimed Lillian re- 
taining her balance with difficulty on the side of 
the hill. 

At this instant a grinning man appeared with 
such explanations as were necessary to successful 
labor. Each girl carried by its stout handle a 
basket into which she was to drop the apples. At 
intervals along the hillside boards formed a bar- 
ricade in front of which the apples could be 
heaped. 

'' Mind, now you don’t bruise ’em,” warned the 
man. “ Handle ’em carefully, or the packers 
won’t take ’em as firsts, and these apples up here 
can be most all firsts. This is the show row in 
the hull orchard. The trees have been fertilized 
and sprayed until there ain’t any other apples like 
’em in the country.” 

“ Mr. Carter’s magnanimity grows on me,” ex- 
claimed Belle when the man had departed. He’s 

2II 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


certainly paying largely for the privilege of taking 
his wife on a belated wedding trip.’^ 

Each girl had chosen a tree from which she 
could, by pulling the upper branches down, reach 
all the apples on the up-hill side. 

I^m making work easy,^^ announced Lillian 
after she had carried several basketfuls of the large 
Baldwins to the pile nearest her, by pretending 
as I used to love to do. It's lots of fun. I’m 
making a curtain now for the side window in the 
back parlor. I like that window best. By this 
time,” her hand was surreptitiously pressed against 
her back, I have surely woven the border of the 
curtain. Now I’m going to weave the body part.” 
It was like Lillian to consider the border first. 

‘^Till four o’clock,” Erma murmured to Clara. 
Those two were working at one tree. In prospec- 
tive mischief they always leaned hard on each 
other for support. 

For an hour there was little conversation under 
the top row of trees. The rustle of leaves, the 
gentle fall of apples into six baskets, the thud of 
others, displaced by a careless hand, as they fell 
to the ground and bounded down the steep hill- 
side, an involuntary sigh wrenched from some 
worker by an extra twinge of an aching back un- 
accustomed to such strenuous labor — these were 
all the sounds which the orchard produced. Be- 
212 


A DEFERRED PFEDDING TOUR 


low, a trolley car came to a standstill, rested a few 
moments at the end of the line, and slid back 
again over the shining rails. Gradually the sun 
sank into a rosy warm west. Gradually the 
apples rose in ruddy heaps. Gradually the strong 
young trees, lightened of their load, lifted their 
branches nearer the hazy blue sky. Gradually, 
also, the trips to the apple piles became less fre- 
quent ; the baskets filled more slowly ; sighs 
became more frequent — and then four o’clock 
came. 

And four o’clock brought something for which 
the Twisters thought they had been looking. But 
now when it came, it exceeded all their plans and 
expectations. 

There was a patter of ascending feet, a rattle of 
stones, and then Clara Pike, stooping with a sup- 
pressed giggle to peer down on the newcomer, 
arose with a scream of real fear instead of the cry 
of simulated fear she was prepared to give. 

“ Girls, quick I Rameses the Great is coming! ” 

And in confirmation of her words came a loud 
triumphant Baa, baa.” 


213 


CHAPTER XIV 


RAMESES THE GREAT 

The sheep’s call brought immediate response. 
Six baskets thumped on the ground. Six agitated 
voices blended. Six apple pickers flew to cover. 
The guilty Twisters scrambled into their tree by 
way of the branches which grew low on the trunk. 
With bruised hands and scratched faces they 
climbed to the higher branches and there clung, 
swayed dizzily in the breeze. The other four 
climbed to a precarious place on top of a section 
of old stone wall which rose out of a pile of debris 
at one end of the orchard and continued a few 
rods, in an unstable condition, frost heaved, the 
stones displaced and rocking on a shaky founda- 
tion. This section, luckily, had not yet been 
removed, as had the rest of the wall, to serve as 
the foundation of a new barn in Cartersville. 

Therefore, when the hunter ” reached the scene 
of activities, he found two blood-streaked faces, 
pale in spots, gazing far down at him from among 
a shower of Baldwins which the climbers were 
dislodging, and four other faces, pale but whole, 
214 


RAMESES THE GREAT 


looking down an alluringly short distance from 
the top of the wall, the feet belonging to the faces 
drawn up until each chin rested on knees, each 
pair of knees being embraced by trembling arms. 
The sheep paused and frowned, the frown being 
indicated by the belligerent movements of his 
head. He stepped on lively impatient little hoofs 
from wall to tree, baa-ing unmusically. A move- 
ment from either place secured his immediate 
attention and close attendance. 

Clara, clutching a limb in convulsive fingers, the 
soles of her shoes striving to curl around the slip- 
pery branch on which they rested, peered tremu- 
lously into the scratched face on the other side of 
the trunk. 

Newsy has either made a mistake or else Ram- 
eses broke out of his yard,^’ panted Erma, clinging 
hard. 

“ This is the last practical joke I shall ever try 
to play,’^ Clara vowed in solemn whispers. Clara 
had originated the scheme, the unexpected result 
of which baa-ed hungrily below them. 

'' We may not live to play another,^’ whispered 
Erma. “ I’m getting awful seasick.” She slipped 
both arms over her branch and hung on desper- 
ately by her armpits. I don’t care — much — 
whether Rameses ” 

The sheep shook his head and rose on his hind 
215 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


legs as he looked upward longingly. The sight 
stimulated Erma to a fresh grip on the limb. I 

Girls/' wailed Lillian, ‘‘ if he stands up here 
on his hind legs we’re lost — he would push the wall 
over.” Lillian’s emotion rocked the stone on which 
she sat. ' 

The sheep immediately turned wall-ward, 
whereupon the sitters all cried out while four stones j 
rocked convulsively. But Winifred, hastily seiz- | 
ing a small stone, cast it at the enemy. The sheep, 
preparing to plant his forefeet on the wall, ran 
pla3Tully after the stone. 

Girls,” implored Winifred of the tree top, 
pick apples and throw down and we’ll keep | 
quiet. Make ’im stay under the tree.” Then as j 
Clara wrenched an apple from its stem and dropped 
it on the returning king, Winifred added hastily, 

‘‘ Try to pick the seconds, Clara. They won’t be 
accepted as firsts after you have thrown ’em down.” 

At this unexpected thoughtfulness Rebecca 
giggled nervously, rocking her stone so violently 
that the sheep turned an eye that way, and only 
the timely dropping of a “ second ” distracted his 
attention. 

“ Call for help,” beseeched Erma, limp again 
across her branch. Then, Girls, I shall — never 
— cross — the ocean ! ” 

Rebecca’s and Lillian’s stones rocked again, this 
216 


RAMESES THE GREAT 


time not in fear. Clara crept out cautiously on 
her branch and reached for another apple. I 
hate to call for help/’ she objected. We’ll never 
hear the last of it. The men are picking in the 
orchard away over the hill, too, and couldn’t hear 
us. Maybe that beast will go away soon.” 

‘ Soon ! ’ ” Erma groaned. “ I’ll not be here 

soon to be rescued. I ” 

Just then a great fat Baldwin, dislodged 
Clara’s motions, landed with a resounding thump 
on top of Erma’s bare head. She gave a sharp cry 
of pain and made a sudden movement which shook 
the slender top of the tree. 

Clara, reaching out for an apple, failed in her 
mission. Her foot slipped. There was a rustle, a 
catch, a muffled exclamation, and then, with a 
shriek that threw the automobile call into the 
background of sound, she rattled downward through 
the branches and, in the midst of a rain of “firsts” 
struck the amazed ram squarely on his imperial back, 
while her scream was ably supported by five others. 

Impulsively, her fear of the sheep swallowed up 
in her fear for Clara, Winifred slid down from the 
wall, and armed with a stone in each hand, flew 
valiantly to the rescue. But no rescue work was 
needed. Great no longer, the sheep gave one 
bound which simultaneously dislodged the unwill- 
ing occupant of his woolly back and sent himself 
217 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


a few feet nearer home. He continued in that di- 
rection with such speed that he had traversed the 
width of the orchard, vaulted the low wall and was 
half-way across the pasture, still fleeing toward his 
safe abode before the girls had recovered sufficiently 
to speak. 

Then Clara, uninjured, but badly shaken, both 
physically and emotionally, rolled over and sat up, 
tenderly nursing her bruises. Erma groaningly 
slid and climbed and clung her way down the tree. 
Winifred sat down suddenly beside Clara, the 
stones still tightly clutched. Stiffly, the wall sit- 
ters deserted their posts. 

Then Lillian, whose mind never worked as minds 
are supposed to work under given conditions, ex- 
claimed tragically, Girls, there’s one thing we 
should be thankful for — that Mrs. Cregg is in New 
York. We never could have boosted her either up 
a tree or up on the wall I ” 

Rebecca smilelessly seized her basket. I’m 
going in the direction of New York without a mo- 
ment’s delay I ” she declared in a hoarse whisper. 

He may come back.” 

But the sheep, at that moment, gave the lie to 
her words. He looked over his shoulder once, and 
instantly, the memory of the things which lay be- 
hind him caused his pattering feet to rise in long 
leaps toward the sheep yard. 

218 


RAMESES THE GREAT 

Despite their fears and tremblings, the girls be- 
gan to laugh. Even the sick Erma and the shaken 
Clara joined. Winifred did not even smile. She 
sat as though in a trance staring at the sheep but, 
apparently, not seeing it. Neither did she appear 
to hear the exclamations which greeted a realiza- 
tion of the scratches on the faces and hands of the 
climbers, nor the preparations for departure. The 
valley seemed to have hypnotized her. 

Hurry, Winifred,” urged Belle. What’s the 
matter ? Are you hurt? I couldn’t have left that 
wall with Rameses here if five lives had depended 
on it.” 

Winifred arose and sought her basket. No, 
I’m not hurt. But when Clara fell, the smoke 
seemed to roll away from my brain, and all the 
things different ones said have rushed into a com- 
mon thought center and are welded into Oh, 

if it works it will be just splendid ! ” descending 
rapidly from the heights of metaphysics to the 
plane of enthusiastic girlhood. But I’ve got to 
think some before I tell it’to you.” 

It,” muttered Rebecca crossly. What are 
you talking about ? ” But even as she spoke Re- 
becca rubbed her aching knees and groaned. The 
knees objected to further service underneath their 
owner. 

Belle, who had escaped with less fright and 
219 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


fewer pains than the rest, answered Rebecca’s for- 
gotten question. “ Winifred is transfixed by some 
scheme or other. The fall of Eve has furnished 
forth an effervescent idea.” 

Neither the alliteration nor the effervescent 
idea ” offered any attractions to the limping, tired, 
frightened girls still fearful of the return of Ram- 
eses. Down the steep hill they raced, and then, 
refusing to venture into the open pasture, hugged 
the fence and so, by a lengthy route, arrived in 
Mrs. Carter’s living-room, old skirts torn, hair in 
disorder, hands bruised and backs aching — and en- 
tered the presence of Miss Sue Bates and Elise 
Shreve. 

Mr. Carter, at the sight of the apple pickers, and 
especially at the sight of the Twisters’ literally 
open countenances, descended precipitously to the 
middle of his spine, where he sat, his hands 
against his sides, and frankly roared. Mrs. Carter, 
shaking, but sympathetic, departed at once for the 
wherewithal to cleanse and bind up the bruises 
and scratches, in which healing process Miss Bates 
and her niece joined so heartily that no one 
thought to introduce the latter until she was ac- 
quainted with them all. 

Had the slightly embarrassed girls only known 
it, their disorderly array, their dirt and occupation, 
their plight and the irrepressible giggles with 
220 



DOWN THE STEEP HILL THEY RACED 




RAMESES THE GREAT 

which they now viewed it, were balm to the spirit 
of the older girl who was “ down and out.'' Tak- 
ing Clara into capable charge, Elise soon had her 
scratches disinfected and covered with strips of 
adhesive plasters, causing a gale of laughter from 
the others until Erma's plasters, fixed by the ac- 
complished hand of Miss Bates, divided their at- 
tention. 

From the midst of the adhesive plaster Clara 
looked out at a small face wreathed in smiles, and 
expectant of approval. The dining-room door 
was held slightly ajar and the face was inserted in 
the opening. To the surprise of the grinning 
Newsy, she turned a disapproving back. No one, 
in the stress of the repair work, had yet men- 
tioned Rameses until Mrs. Carter, putting court 
plaster on Winifred's wrist, asked, “ Whatever did 
you girls do to Cud-dles ? He came tear-ing down 
from the orchard as if his life de-pended on get- 
ting away as far as he could with-out making a 
single stop." 

Cuddles ! " The liame elicited a chorus of as- 
tonishment. “ We've had the awfulest time " — 
It was Rameses that came after us " — He drove 

us on the wall and up a tree " 

“Aw, come off I " yelled a child's excited voice 
from the dining-room. “ Do ye think I'd let Ram- 
eses out? I sent Cuddles, just as you said " 

221 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


The voice suddenly ceased, and Newsy prudently 
retired from the scene, while he was yet unnoticed. 
But such portions of the Twisters' faces as were not 
covered with plaster turned a fiery red, and they 
added nothing to the history of the sheep on the 
hilltop. Only once Clara spoke, and that was to 
say to Erma in a low tone as she passed : 

“ Latest novel and best seller — The Foolers 
Fooled, or The Sins of the Wicked Fall on Their 
Own Heads." 

Faces, rather," corrected Erma grimly. 

Pretty sights we’ll be Monday ! " 

They glanced up to meet Mr. Carter’s twinkling 
eyes. No one else suspected them owing to the 
fact that they were the greatest sufferers. 

As for Winifred, the importance and increasing 
expansiveness of her idea so impressed her that 
she could think of nothing else. Furthermore, 
the sight of Elise had added so big an ell to the 
mental edifice she was raising that she could 
scarcely restrain herself from taking her caller at 
once into her confidence. But, telling herself that 
she must begin at the foundation, she restrained 
her impulses, contenting herself with escorting 
Elise over the colonial house and listening eagerly 
to her exclamations of appreciation. 

About her efforts to find employment, Elise had 
but little to tell. She had been hunting up possi- 
222 


RAMESES THE GREAT 


bilities only to find them change into impossibilities. 

You see I am trying to make a beginning after 
everything I can do has already been commenced. 
Every position is filled.’' 

The two girls stood in front of the big fireplace 
as she spoke, Elise with her dark head bowed in a 
discouraged fashion and her eyes fixed broodingly 
on the flames. Her trim figure was stylishly clad, 
but Winifred’s experienced eyes detected worn 
seams and turned breadths, and realized that the 
style lay in the skill of the wearer, who had turned 
the knowledge she had obtained in Domestic Art 
to practical account. 

Suddenly the dark head came up with an air of 
unconscious defiance. Not every one wants to be 
taught to cook and sew and put a home on a busi- 
ness basis — but every one wants to eat and must 
eat ! ” Here Elise gave a sorry little laugh. So 
yesterday I put on my apron, pocketed my pride 
and took possession of the kitchen. I spent the 
day baking, and this morning I flooded the show- 
cases in the Woman’s Exchange with cake and 
pies and tarts and cookies. Perhaps some of them 
will be sold. It’s a beginning, at least.” 

Oh ! ” cried Winifred with a strain of certainty 
in her voice. I’m sure the Exchange will sell 
your stuff — I know they will.” 

In Mrs. Carter’s living-room Elise was the sub- 
223 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


ject of conversation, her aunt commenting on the 
results of certain of her accomplishments. The 
girls sat about enjoying the comments, without 
being able to decide exactly what the speaker meant 
by what she said. 

“ Sarah Mary, my ideas about colleges are com- 
pletely revolutionized,^’ she declared from an easy 
chair beneath Druisy’s oage. They really do 
teach girls something worth knowing, even if the 
teaching spoils their nerves. I will say for Elise 
that she can bake better and with less waste than 
I. And as for the house, Sarah, she has brought 
all the garret furniture down-stairs and carted all 
the parlor furniture up garret. So that most of 
the time I feel quite like my grandmother and the 
good old times in which I never cared to live ! If 
ever the time comes when I want to feel modern 
and natural I shall be obliged to move into my 
garret.” Here Miss Bates rocked and laughed, the 
fine lines of amusement radiating from her eyes 
far down on her cheeks. “ But all joking aside, 
that girl can do the most with the least of any 
one I ever saw, and she says,” incredulously, 
“ that the Domestic Art and Science Courses 
taught her.” 

After Miss Bates and her niece had departed, 
Winifred hurried to the telephone and called up 
Landon Stearns. 


224 


RAMESES THE GREAT 


Are you hungry for cake, pies, tarts, cookies 
and other goodies ? ” she asked. 

What do you mean ? asked a puzzled voice. 
Then, hopefully, “ Is this the preamble to an invita- 
tion to tea?” 

‘‘ No, it's not,” promptly. But if you wish to 
treat your fraternity brethren to the herein-before- 
mentioned delicacies, you’ll find a full line to-night 
at the Woman’s Exchange on Main Street ” 

A fiood of light evidently broke over Landon. 
“ Guess I’m beginning to understand. All right ! ” 

Be sure you call for the right cook’s stuff,” 
added Winifred. 

Indeed I shall.” Landon’s tone showed full 
comprehension. I’ll put the fellows here all 
under the doctor’s care between now and Monday. 
Thank you for the information.” 

“ Winifred,” asked Rebecca who sat nearly under 
the telephone, “ what under the sun are you talk- 
ing about ? Much fright hath made thee mad, 
nicht wahr ? ” 

Confine your remarks to the King’s English, 
please.” Winifred hung up the receiver and turned 
away without explanation. ^‘As to that fright — 
how could we mistake Cuddles for Rameses when 
he acted so playfully ? ” 

‘‘ How could we indeed ! ” sighed Clara Pike 
forlornly. I would not have believed it possible I ” 
225 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


She felt tenderly of her face. He has grown so 
big lately, and has horns.’’ 

Bat Winifred had not waited to hear her re- 
marks. She had slipped quietly through the pas- 
sage to the colonial living-room, intent on the 
foundations of her idea. In the living-room she 
found Mr. Carter and found him a willing listener 
to the plan which developed even as she unfolded 
it. 

Would you be willing? ” she ended. 

Moses slapped his knee. If you hain’t one to 
think up things.!” he exclaimed admiringly. 
“ Willin’ ? Of course I’m willin’. Didn’t I tell 
you to use this old shanty just as you wanted 
to?” 

‘‘ Yes,” hesitated Winifred, but you see you’ll 
be away ” 

Shucks I ” cried Mr. Carter genially. “ Go 
right t’ work, only,” here he leaned forward in 
alarm, don’t for the sake of Jerushy tell Sairy 
Mary, or she’ll make a hindrance out of it. Wait 
till we get gone a Thursday and then go ahead as 
fast as you want to. I’ll risk the old house in 
your hands.” 

You’ve done so much for us already ” 

Winifred was beginning, when Moses cut her 
short with a wave of his hand. 

If I can lay up this weddin’ trip against you,” 
226 


RAMESES THE GREAT 


\ he confided with a delighted grin, “what little 
I’ve done won’t make no impression on my side 
I of the scales.” 

The next stone which Winifred placed in the 
foundation of her idea was a telephonic communi- 
cation with Louise Grey. She waited until after 
supper when Mrs. Carter and the girls were in the 
kitchen out of ear-shot. 

“ Louise, are you awfully busy ? ” was her first 
i query. 

“ Unusually busy just now — listening ! Speak 
on, friend, but if the quality of your tone gets 
into the biscuit I have in the oven, they’ll be 
the heaviest light bread that Ashley has ever been 
I called on to consume ! ” 

i “ If you leaven your bread as much as you do 
your remarks, it must be mostly air bubbles,” re- 
I torted Winifred in a far lighter tone. “ I’m in 
the throes of an idea.” 

“ You’re lucky if the idea is singular. You’re 
usually afiiicted with ’em in the plural, but tell 
me — does it concern the mother of Dr. X. Y. Z. ? ” 

“ Far from her,” promptly. “ She is relegated 
to a smoky past.” 

A rueful laugh greeted this. “ Ashley seems to 
think her son is also. He is just back from New 
York. Went yesterday with Mr. Perry to inter- 
view Dr. Cregg.” 


227 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


Mr. Perry was the president of the college trustees. 

And they were not successful ? 

A disgusted laugh answered this. Ashley says 
they found him pacing his mother’s drawing-room 
with his overcoat and hat on and a grip in his 
hand. He had forgotten his engagement with 
them utterly. He took far more interest in the 
arrival of a taxicab than in the Stearns Science 
Hall. All they got out of him was that he had 
arrived at no decision, and couldn’t take the time 
then to talk things over, as he must make a certain 
train, and then he bolted out of the house, Ashley 
says, taking about one step to the door and another 
to the taxi the moment it came, and he was gone. 
His mother tried to smooth things over — said 
sonny was disturbed and agitated over some un- 
toward happening or other, which necessitated a 
trip into the ‘ interior.’ But whether the ' in- 
terior’ meant Hoboken or Omaha no one knows I 
Ashley says that colleges may add all the letters 
they wish after the doctor’s name, if only they 
will allow him to prefix some suitable adjectives!” 

“ It’s a shame ! ” responded Winifred warmly, 
“ to make Mr. Grey waste two days for nothing.” 

Louise dismissed the subject with an unseen 
shrug of her shoulders. But it’s done, and now 
what about your idea? ” 

“ I want your advice — and something more sub- 
228 


RAMESES THE GREAT 


stantial/^ returned Winifred promptly. Now 
listen, please.” 

Briefly she unfolded her idea, and preferred her 
request. 

The latter Louise disposed of at once. You 
know you are welcome to any or all of my posses- 
sions — and likewise my mother-in-law’s ! Come 
over and take your choice. There’s a garret full of 
old-fashioned clothes. But — Winifred — that idea 
is mighty interesting. Is it for one evening only ? ” 

Winifred hesitated. “ I don’t dare look or plan 
beyond at present. It might not be a success, you 
know. I can experiment on the students because 
they lend themselves so readily to experiments ! ” 
I see.” Louise’s voice was thoughtful. But — 

say! Winifred, may Ashley and I come? We’ll 
behave. You can class us in among the students 
if you wish. We’re not so very far removed. And 

if ” Louise’s voice died away reluctantly. 

Winifred well knew what was in her thought 
but, giving her assent to the request, she hastily 
hung up the receiver. 

“ One evening is all we can plan for now/’ she 
told herself firmly. ‘‘ If it proves a failure let it 
be a modest failure.” 

She made her way slowly toward the kitchen 
and the rattling dishes. '^Now,” she muttered 
aloud, I am ready to tell the girls.” 

229 


CHAPTER XV 


A SHEEPISH IDEA 

It was not until Monday evening, however, after 
the supper work was finished and the girls had 
gone up-stairs, that Winifred gathered them into 
her room, and laid before them her delightful 
money-making plan, which, although incomplete 
in details, met with an enthusiastic reception, no 
one doubting that the details would be easy of 
arrangement in the near future. 

Belle Eaton at once named the project a ^‘sheep- 
ish idea,^^ “ Because,” she said, “ it culminated or 
accumulated or originated or some ‘ ^ated ’ in 
Cuddles^ visit to the orchard.” 

“ ‘ Sheepish ' I ” quoted Lillian scornfully ; “ it's 
the most open and stalking idea I’ve heard in some 
time.” 

“ Let’s appoint Lillian our advance agent and 
advertising bureau,” suggested Rebecca. “ She’s 
all we will need in that direction.” 

“ And to have it Hallowe’en lends such color 
and countenance to the scheme,” from Erma 
Cunningham, applying cold cream to her face. 

“ The proposed one dollar per plate leads me to 
230 


A ^^SHEEPISH^^ IDEA 


countenance it with all the countenance I have 
visible,” affirmed Clara Pike, whose patched face 
had caused her to keep away from the Hill that 
day. 

But, girls, the thing that most impresses me is 
this.” Lillian spoke with great sincerity. ‘‘ Wini- 
fred has had this splendid scheme working round in 
her head since Saturday night — no, afternoon, — 
and here it comes out now for the first time. If 

ever I do have an idea ” 

“ You^re bound to relate it a little ahead of its 
arrival,” Rebecca finished for her. 

“ But the cooking — who^s going to do that for 
us? ” asked Belle. 

“ Who needs the money,” inquired Winifred, 
'' as badly as we need her ? ” 

The others answered in delighted concert, 
Elise Shreve.” 

“ Sh ! ” warned Winifred who stood with her back 
against the door. “ Remember, girls, we can keep 
up an awful thinking on the subject, but Mrs. 
Carter must not be told lest it be construed into a 
' hindrance.^ Those are my positive orders from 
the head of the house. But there's enough to be 
attended to in secret conclave, before we make 
anything public or touch the colonial house, and 
the first of those things is to find out if Elise 
Shreve will take the helm. I’m going there right 

231 


A SENIOR CO-ED 

now and talk it over with her. Who will go with 
me?^^ 

No one/^ responded Belle promptly. Not but 
what any one of us can spare as much time as you, 
but the rest of us find Miss Shreve a little difficult 
to approach. I love to look at her, she’s so stylish 
and — and up-standing, but you’ll get along best 
with her alone.” 

Winifred, who knew that Belle was right, urged 
no more, but at once departed for the Green Valley 
Road and was met at the door of the Miss Bates 
house by that lady herself. 

Elise is in the kitchen up to her elbows in 
flour,” she explained drawing her caller into the 
living-room. Take off your things, and I’ll send 
you right out to her. She certainly hasn’t gone so 
far toward a nervous smash-up that she can’t work 
her hands. The Woman’s Exchange sold out 
every last crumb of her baking on Saturday, and 
gave her some special orders for more.” 

Winifred raised guileless eyes to her hostess at 
this announcement. I’m glad of that. That will 
put new heart in her.” 4 

Miss Bates nodded. “ They telephoned her the \ 
orders Saturday night, and I do believe she’s \ 
gained two pounds of flesh since — at least, she’s j 
gained more than that in hope and happiness.” J 
Then Miss Bates, with twinkling eyes, came 
232 


A ^^SHEEPISH^^ IDEA 


close to Winifred and whispered, “ It’s had an 
astonishing effect on the man in the hat tray, too 1 
He’s elevated from the tray to her dresser, but still 
lies — face down ! ” and the twinkling eyes disap- 
peared above Winifred’s wraps, their owner chuck- 
ling while her face presented a network of fine 
and changing lines. 

From the bedroom where she had gone with the 
wraps, she called back, How do you like the 
garret furniture? The Carters are all blessed with 
old furniture, and I’m the only one in the family 
who doesn’t care for it.” 

Miss Bates ! ” cried Winifred eagerly, do you 
chance to be blessed with old clothes as well ? ” 

She reappeared, still chuckling. ‘‘ Except for 
my best dress, I haven’t anything that isn’t old ! ” 
don’t mean that,” explained Winifred. “I 
mean Revolutionary clothes. Clothes in old chests. 
Clothes away behind the present styles.” 

Miss Bates led the way to the kitchen. Yes, I 
have some of my grandmother’s clothes, and 
among other things a ^ calash.’ It’s an enormous 
bonnet with shirred silk stretched over hoops. It’s 
grandmother’s wedding bonnet. I’ll show it to 
you if you want to see it.” 

“See it!” cried Winifred. “I want to borrow 
it!” 

Seated in the kitchen watching Elise’s deft 

233 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


fingers, she explained to aunt and niece the 
“ sheepish idea and preferred two requests. 

The request to the aunt was that she act as 
chaperon at a New England dinner given at the 
Two-Faced House on Hallowe’en. The request to 
Elise was far more important. 

If you don’t come to our aid,” Winifred told 
her, I fear our plan will fall through. The idea 
is to give the supper in the old colonial house. 
We seniors will be the table waiters, and we’ll 
dress in colonial costumes, or, at least, old-fash- 
ioned clothes, and the old house will certainly be 
in costume, and we hope that the guests will be 
willing to pay a dollar a plate for their supper 
and come in costume also. But, above all things, 
we hope that you will come to our aid and get up 
the supper — and fix up the house and sell us ideas, 
and ” 

Will I ? ” responded Elise, bake cloth in hand 
as she stood over the oven. I surely will. 
And ” 

Remember,” Winifred raised a warning finger, 
“ this is a business proposition. We want to make 
money for the chapter house. We expect to pay 
and get paid. We want you because we think 
you’ll be a good investment, and, although we 
don’t dare breathe it yet, if Hallowe’en is a success 
more colonial functions may follow.” 

234 


A ^<SHEEPISH^^ IDEA 


An hour after her arrival, she was ready to 
depart, her mission a success, and her head filled 
with practical suggestions from the chief cook 
and bottle washer, as Miss Bates at once named 
her niece. 

“ Now,’' began the aunt, bringing Winifred’s 
wraps from the bedroom, when I’m able to 
squeeze in a word edgewise. I’ve something to 
say.” 

‘‘ Say on, please,” commanded Elise. 

“ Would it be of any interest to your guests to 
have the chaperon, clad anciently, of course, spin- 
ning wool rolls on Moses’ wheel ? ” 

Miss Bates, do you know how ? ” asked Wini- 
fred eagerly. 

“ I surely do, and I could put in my time to 
advantage. Chaperoning is rather dull work for 
me.” 

Winifred turned on her with sparkling eyes. 
‘‘ If you will spin, we will give each guest a souve- 
nir of the yarn you have made right before their 
eyes. I don’t suppose there are a dozen students 
in the college who have ever seen any one spin.” 

“ Knots or rosettes of yarn pinned to their 
waists and coats,” chimed in Elise. Won’t that 
be an odd souvenir ? ” 

“ Everything must be odd that can’t be strictly 
colonial,” rejoined Winifred. 

235 


A SENIOR CO-ED 

On their way to the car, Elise poured out her 
thankfulness over the matter of the Woman's Ex- 
change. “ Winifred, they sold everything I baked 
before they closed Saturday night. The manager 
said it was all taken by one woman. She came 
in a carriage and looked and tasted, and finally 
took all my stuff away with her and ordered more 
to be called for on Tuesday. I want to find out 
who she is. Who do you suppose " 

Winifred quickened her steps. I must take 
this car," she said hastily. “ I am very glad your 
pastry sold. Every one likes good things to eat. 
I hope just fifty people will want to eat your 
cookery at one dollar each on Hallowe'en," and 
with this adroit change from a dangerous subject, 
she climbed aboard the car. 

To herself she said as the car sped toward the 
city, That must have been the Psi Upsilon 
house mother. Landon was bright to send her 
and not have the stufi* delivered. Now Elise 
doesn't know — but she'll find out if he sends the 
same one each time. I'll warn him to-morrow, 
if I see him." 

She saw him in the Hall of Languages the fol- 
lowing afternoon, and discovered that no warning 
was necessary. 

See here, Winifred," he exclaimed as soon as 
they had edged their way out of the throng and 
236 


A ‘‘SHEEPISH^' IDEA 

stood beside the window at the end of the hall, 
how much baking can a person do and sur- 
vive? 

He dropped his calculus on the window sill 
and stuffed his hands into his pockets, tossing his 
thick dark hair out of his eyes with a quick ges- 
ture. 

Winifred sat down beside the calculus and smiled 
up at him. “ Are you contemplating murder or 
suicide? ” 

Well, it bids fair to be both if I keep on stuff- 
ing the fellows with Miss Shreve’s cooking as I 
have begun. 

And you'll also be guilty of a third crime — for 
she'll find you out." 

Landon straightened his broad shoulders, and 
planted his feet more firmly beneath his solid six 
feet of healthy bone and muscle. “ What do you 
say to this ? Suppose I hide behind the Salvation 
Army ? So far behind that she'll never catch a 
glimpse of my coat tails even. They feed a lot of 
folks, and why not have 'em fed on good things 
cooked by Miss Shreve — and dad’ll pay the bills." 

Winifred sprang to her feet, her eyes glowing 
with enthusiasm. Landon Stearns, did you — a 
man — think of that all by yourself? " 

Landon grinned delightedly, ran his fingers 
through his hair and nodded. “ Sure thing this 

237 


A SENIOR CO-ED 

time. I don’t make such a mistake often, 
though ! ” 

But it’s such a splendid idea — so practical 
for ” — here she laughed shortly — for every one 
concerned except your father.” 

“ He gets the best of the bargain,” Landon spoke 
with quiet emphasis. ‘‘ Father would rather do a 
thing of that kind, where he won’t get found out, 
you know, than to eat his dinner. And I can fix up 
this Salvation Army business so she’ll not suspect 
— good Samaritan, you know, simply leaves orders 
for so much stuff at the Woman’s Exchange — and 
Army folks taste and smell and choose Miss Shreve’s 
as a permanent proposition. Orders follow. Good 
Samaritan has no apparent connection with the 
choice. G. S. drops out of sight — Miss Shreve’s 
sight, that is. Then I can meet her in the open, in 
your society, and not have to skulk around the 
corner.” 

“But — Landon!” cried Winifred suddenly, 
“ don’t, please, overwhelm her with orders before 
Hallowe’en. We senior girls have a scheme for 
that night. It’s growing like a snowball set roll- 
ing down-hill. Every one who hears it adds to it, 
and right in the center is a plum for Miss Shreve. 
Now what have you to offer ? ” 

As soon as the scheme was unfolded, Landon 
added to it. “ Strikes me right away that you 
238 


A ^^SHEEPISH'^ IDEA 


may need a military escort at Cartersville. What 
do you say to a half-dozen staunch soldiers of the 
Revolution in full battle array, flintlocks in- 
cluded ? 

“ Fine I applauded Winifred. Oh, there are 
lots of possibilities for local color in that ! 

After class, as she was entering the waiting-rooms, 
M. Gussie Barker sauntered up. M. Gussie never 
seemed in a hurry, but she was never a moment 
late for any appointment, whether it was breakfast 
at seven-thirty or physical culture at eleven. 

To-morrow is the appointed time, is it, for me 
and my weapons of protection to appear ? 

Winifred nodded. Yes, Wednesday is the day 
appointed for the wedding journey to begin. The 
bridal couple depart on the six o’clock express ! ” 

“ Hindrances are not accumulating, then ? ” 

No, nor smiles either, on Mrs. Carter’s face ! 
Mr. Carter is one broad grin, however.” 

Wednesday evening at ten minutes before six the 
New York express pulled into the train shed at 
the Central station. The throng in the waiting- 
room gathered up their luggage and pushed toward 
the gates as the train crier began monotonously : 

Train going east, Utica, Albany, Poughkeepsie, 
and New York. Train going east.” 

His first call was dying away, when a noteworthy 
procession filed through the station. 

239 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


First in order was Mr. Carter, bearing two large 
new suit-cases heavily packed. Moses was per- 
spiring but exultant. He wore a new suit of gray 
plaid and a new derby which hung off the back of 
his head to allow the unimpeded circulation of air in 
the region of his ample and heated brow. His 
gray overcoat was unbuttoned, its tails waving 
behind him as he strode toward the waiting train. 
Over his bright tan shoes black rubbers were 
drawn, while every stride revealed the presence of 
pale blue socks. A tie similar in hue was elabo- 
rately knotted beneath his scarlet face. Since he 
had bestowed Sarah Mary in the tonneau of the 
red car, Moses had radiated satisfaction as the sun 
radiates light. At last he was in a fair way to 
outshine the “ skin-tight Betts. 

Treading in her husband’s wake, but not radiat- 
ing satisfaction, came Mrs. Carter, she that had 
been a Betts.” Her hair was fastened firmly on 
the crown of her head. Belle Eaton had attended 
to that. Framing her comely face was a black 
velvet bonnet, shaped and trimmed by EliseShreve’s 
skilful fingers. 

“ Make it with a view to staying on under diffi- 
culties,” Winifred had directed. 

With one hand Mrs. Carter held up her skirts in 
front to allow her roomy arctics free play. In the 
other hand she bore, by means of a large brass 
240 


A ^^SHEEPISH^' IDEA 


ring, a curious shaped budget done up in news- 
papers and wrapped around with a black cloth. 
There was an opening in both cloth and paper 
beneath her hand and out of the opening came 
Druisy^s disturbed chirp. 

Where-ever I go, my bird shall go,” she had 
declared. 

Following the bride of nearly a year were the 
Alpha Gamma seniors and M. Gussie Barker, 
variously laden with baggage. Lillian carried a 
basket of lunch covered with a large red napkin. 
The lunch had been put up in the face of protest 
from Moses. 

“There^s a dining-car,’^ he remonstrated. 
“ What’s the use of cartin’ stuff int’ the sleeper ? 
Guess I can pay fer our suppers.” 

“ It’s bad enough,” his spouse replied while she 
steadily buttered sandwiches, to have to take a 
sleep-er without swal-low-ing all sorts of dirt on an 
eat-ing car.” 

But as they left the auto, Moses, managing to 
reach Lillian unnoticed, whispered with a nod at 
the basket, Lose the pesky thing, won’t ye ? ” 

Lillian, nothing loath, nodded gleefully. Trust 
me ! ” she whispered back. 

In front of the unopened gate in the train shed 
the party halted. Moses yielded his suit-cases to a 
porter, and drawing forth a blue bordered handker- 
241 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


chief snapped out its folds and mopped his face 
and neck, after which he gave three pockets in 
turn resounding whacks exclaiming : 

“Yep, they’re all safe. I tell ye that state in- 
spector is onto his job. First one that ever visited 
my farm that knew what he was talking about. I 
tell ye he’s wrote my place up regardless I And it 
deserves every word he’s writ, if I do say it as 
shouldn’t ! ” 

Mr. Carter’s voice was audible to the middle of 
the waiting-room. 

In the pockets thus tested were three periodicals, 
each containing a copiously illustrated article, 
which filled his soul with pride. One was the 
Huntingdon Evening News. Another was a prom- 
inent farm magazine, a copy of which had been 
mailed him by the editor. The third was a New 
York daily which had been sent by the state in- 
spector of dairies. All three described the barns 
at Cartersville, not omitting the abode of the 
Orpingtons. But special attention, description and 
praise were bestowed on the cow barn, its residents 
and its equipment. “ The champion dairy in that 
part of the state,” the inspector designated it. 
This was the only phrase in the entire article 
which did not suit Moses. “ He ought t’ said in 
the hull state,” the owner of the dairy affirmed 
loudly. 

242 


A ^^SHEEPISH^' IDEA 


Train for New York. All aboard/^ chanted the 
train crier. The gates were pushed back, and the 
travelers passed out. 

Back through the crowd slipped Lillian, bearing 
the lunch and followed by Mr. Carter’s grin, which 
speedily gave way to alarm as Mrs. Carter halted, 
suddenly forming a dividing rock around which 
the passengers streamed. 

“ Where’s that lunch ? ” she inquired. 

The seniors, glued to the picket fence beside the 
gate, heard. One glance at Moses’ face told them 
of the inadequacy of the master of four hundred 
acres to deal with the situation. 

Ask the porters who took your suit-cases,” 
called Rebecca glibly, and Mrs. Carter, satisfied, 
ceased to become a dividing rock. 

Winifred sighed in relief when the train drew 
slowly out, and a blue bordered handkerchief 
waved jubilantly in the wind from the rear plat- 
form. “ She’s off,” breathed Winifred. I’ve not 
felt sure up to this moment !” 

Now for active work with the Hallowe’en 
entertainment,” cried Belle. We have a whole 
week. I do wish Hallowe’en came Friday night 
instead of Thursday on account of work next day.” 

The seniors had but little work on the Hill 
Fridays, that little being largely in the depart- 
ments of English and the languages. Thursday 

243 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


morning, the bulletin-board announced a welcome 
release from labor in the shape of the announcement 
that the head of the first department was ill and 
the head of the second had been called from town 
for a few days. Therefore their classes would not 
meet on Friday. Extended work was also posted 
for both departments, but this was conveniently 
overlooked by the hurried senior Alpha Gammas. 

“ Of course,^’ sighed Lillian, I’m awfully sorry 
Professor Adams is ill, but as long as he had to 
come down with a cold I’m glad it happened right 
now on our account, for the week is so full.” 

The week had been full of work and hopes and 
plans. Elise vibrated between Cartersville and her 
baking on the Green Valley Road until the day 
before Hallowe’en. Then, with her aunt, she came 
to stay at Cartersville for two days. Under her 
deft management, the old colonial house was put 
into shape to entertain fifty dinner guests. And 
fifty were assured the laborers before the week 
ended. Landon suggested the proper management 
of securing the guests and keeping tab on the same, 
because, as the dinner was a masquerade, it was 
possible for guests to enter who were not desired 
and had not been prepared for. Therefore, fifty 
admission tickets were printed, and the guests 
warned that at any moment during the evening 
they might be challenged to produce a ticket. 

244 


A ^‘SHEEPISH*' IDEA 


Landoii sold forty among the dilFerent fraternity 
houses, and those forty, of course, meant twenty 
girls. Then, as the matter became noised abroad, 
Ashley Grey asked for ten tickets to dispose of 
among the alumni. The day after this request 
was complied with, Louise telephoned to Winifred. 

Can you take care of ten more guests ? she 
asked. We can sell more tickets. The urban 
population we have approached are charmed with 
the idea of getting into that old house.” 

Fifty is the limit of our seating capacity — this 
time.” 

And the next time,” Louise was beginning 

quickly, “when you entertain my guests ” 

But Winifred, with a laugh, hung up the receiver. 
She had told Louise that the plans for entertain- 
ment did not extend over Hallowe’en. “ If that 
is a success, we’ll see,” was all she would say. 

The afternoon of Hallowe’en Louise had her 
revenge. Winifred was en route from the colonial 
living-room to the modern dining-room when the 
telephone bell halted her. Taking down the re- 
ceiver she recognized Louise’s voice through a 
suppressed and amused agitation usually foreign 
to the speaker. 

“ I merely called you up, Winifred, to tell you 
that I can’t tell you ! I don’t know when I’ve 
been so excited or had my curiosity so aroused.” 

245 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


“ Louise, you might at least give me a hint 

Not even a hint, and here I^m simply dying 
to unbosom myself. I^m in possession of a wear- 
ing secret.” 

When shall I share it? ” 

“ Can't tell that even, but, the probabilities are, 
you'll find out in one way or another — in a short 
time.” 

You excite all my curiosity,” urged Winifred. 
“ You might give me just a hint ” 

You're entirely too sharp to be entrusted with 
hints. Not one shall I give you — Ashley is com- 
manding me to hang up the receiver or ” 

Louise Wallace Grey ! If he is interested — 
I can guess — the trustees have secured Dr. 

Cregg ” 

“ No — that's not it.” 

Yes it is ! I am on the right track, any wa}^” 
declared Winifred urged on by the tantalizing 
hesitation in the other's denial. “ Now tell 
me ” 

Ha, ha,” laughed Louise. ‘‘ Good-bye, dear, 
until this evening,” and Winifred found herself 
without a listener. 

Before she had time to recall Louise, the latter's 
message was swallowed up in some surprising 
information which Newsy had been waiting to 
deal out to her. Newsy had been entrusted with 
246 


A ‘^SHEEPISH^^ IDEA 


feeding the hens that afternoon, owing to the mul- 
tiplicity of Winifred's duties. Jie stood on one 
foot beside the table scratching his leg with the 
worn toe of the other shoe. 

Say, Miss Lowe, I've been countin' the Orps, 
'nd there's two missin'. They ain't but forty- 
eight, and they ought t' be fifty, although Mis' 
Breiman here says, says she " 

There wa'n't but forty-eight when I had 'em," 
declared that lady herself. She stood in the 
kitchen doorway, her arms akimbo, her tone posi- 
tive. 

Winifred hung up the receiver and turned an 
anxious face on the informants. Are you sure?" 
slie asked of both, and both assented vigorously 
to opposing statements. 

Fifty they oughter be," declared Newsy. 

“ Forty-eight," affirmed Mrs. Breiman. 

There was fifty first," argued Newsy stub- 
bornly, “ and they hain't none died. So why 
ain't they fifty now ? " 

Ask Jim," challenged Mrs. Breiman. He's 
counted 'em too. He fed 'em time and again. 
And I've counted. Forty-eight's the number." 

Winifred, accompanied by Newsy, Mrs. Brei- 
man, Jim, Belle and Lillian visited the hen-house, 
where, by the count of all the spectators, only 
forty-eight fowls appeared. 

247 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


It’s the word of two against one,” Winifred 
thought, but — I’m inclined to believe Newsy.” 

She blamed herself that she had not counted 
her charges before, but, as Belle pointed out, the 
missing two — if two were missing — had not been 
“ lost, strayed nor stolen during her administra- 
tion.” 

At the word stolen ” Winifred suddenly be- 
thought her of Miss Bates. She recollected that 
Miss Bates had told Mr. Carter of two Orpingtons 
advertised in the News at reduced rates. 

I feel sure,” she declared aloud, forgetting 
that her audience had not followed her connecting 
thought, that they came from here I ” 


248 


CHAPTER XVI 


A TALL GEORGE WASHINGTON 

Generalissimo-ess Lowe, the hour is six-thirty 
and your henchmen are in a state of preparedness.’’ 

A squarely built John Alden, in peaked hat, 
broad white collar and long cape thrown back on 
his shoulders, stood before Winifred in the living- 
room of the modern house, converted at present 
into a supply room for the New England supper 
given on Hallowe’en. 

Winifred stood with Elise among stacks of 
plates, cups, saucers, servers and the hundred 
and one necessary accompaniments of the projected 
supper.” 

Her yellow hair was done into an elaborate coif- 
fure of the seventeenth century, a short blue skirt 
was gathered full over the hips, but plain across 
the front to admit the point of a crimson satin 
stomacher laced with gold cord. A cascade of 
white and gold lace fell from the round throat 
of her waist and depended from her short sleeves. 

Raising her eyes a moment from the paper which 
she held she ceased to read, Five dozen napkins, 
five dozen cups,” etc., to ask anxiously : 

249 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


“Then Mr. Brown is in front of the door, and 
Mr. Pierce 

Sayles Cooper removed his peaked cap with care 
and bowed. “ All are in place, Citizeness Lowe. 
Hum ! Strikes me I^m getting the American and 
French Revolution somewhat mixed.’' 

“ It doesn’t matter,” cried a gay voice behind 
him, “only so you act like a revolution of some 
sort I ” and a veritable court dame of the reign of 
Louis XIV appeared, all puffs and powder and 
lace and velvet and gay colored satin. 

“ Lillian Antwerp, don’t you dare leave your 
post one moment,” commanded the “ General- 
issimo-ess,” and Lillian, adjusting across her face 
the patch of black silk which was intended to con- 
ceal the identity which her movements and voice 
revealed, flew back to the outer door of the co- 
lonial room followed by John Alden. 

Through the passage came a tall, handsome, 
sauntering figure. A vast stiff ruff encircled a 
slender throat. Dark hair was built into a head- 
dress which reared itself half a foot above the 
shapely head. 

“ Gussie,” Winifred began, but was promptly 
interrupted. 

“ Queen Elizabeth, at your service. It’s well to 
have one colony maker amid all these colonists — 
hence my sovereignty.” 


250 


A TALL GEORGE WASHINGTON 


Gussie placed her hands on the silken folds over 
her hips and regarded Elise Shreve attentively. 
“If ^Knighthood Was in Flower’ and I had the 
power, as I used to have, of giving my noble sub- 
jects in marriage, I should give her to Sir Walter 
Raleigh, the flower of my Knights.” 

Winifred applauded, and Elise, who was un- 
masked, blushed. The girl was a modestly clad 
Puritan maiden, as became the “chief cook and 
bottle washer.” Over her blue-black hair was a 
close black bonnet, the border of which was turned 
back and faced with white, white ties securing the 
bonnet beneath her chin. A short full black skirt, a 
black waist laced down the front and white cuffs 
completed a costume that the girls designated by 
an adjective unknown to their Puritan ancestors, as 
“ fetching.” 

Belle Eaton, who trod on M. Gussie’s heels and 
represented the flower of Tory bellehood, laughed 
ruefully. “ Well, beauty can afford to go un- 
adorned. It’s when you’re too tall and too thin 
and too sallow that you can’t allow it to be said, 

‘ She was simply but artistically ’ There they 

come ! ” 

With a skurry. Queen Elizabeth and the Tory 
belle departed as an automobile horn outside an- 
nounced the arrival of the first guests at the rusty 
iron gate in front of the colonial house. 

251 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


Above the gate hung two lanterns which Paul 
Revere might have used for signal lights. Beneath 
each light stood a soldier of the Revolution on 
guard, the butts of their clumsy flint-lock guns 
resting on the ground, their powder-horns strapped 
at their sides, knapsacks across the shoulders of 
long tight- waisted coats. Their wigs were sur- 
mounted by somber three-cornered hats. Across 
the upper part of each face was drawn a mask of 
black silk. 

As the first guests approached, also masked and 
muffled to their noses, the soldiers stepped from 
beneath the lanterns, and saluted, while the taller 
demanded in a sepulchral tone : 

“ Present the written password I ” 

One of the men, with a chuckle, presented four 
cards at which the soldiers merely looked. Each 
card read — thanks to Louise Grey — 

“ If ancient enough is your dress. 

And you to a dollar confess, 

The Two-Faced House will bless 
And admit you at seven.” 

The shorter soldier threw open the rusty gate, 
both saluted, and the quartet, with subdued ex- 
clamations and low laughter, marched along the 
narrow board walk, the outline of which was but 
dimly seen by the light of the lanterns hung low 
among the hemlocks. 


252 


A TALL GEORGE WASHINGTON 


Pierce/’ exclaimed the tall soldier, my hands 
feel as though Pd spent the winter at Valley 
Forge ! ” 

“ Same here, only it’s my feet. These blamed 
high top boots pinch like the dickens into the bar- 
gain ! ” 

'‘That load came from the city, didn’t it?” 
asked Landon. " They were no students.” 

" Nope — here come the students. That car is 
loaded with ’em. Now look out, and don’t give 
yourself away.” 

The four from the city, arriving at the double 
doors of the colonial house, found an officer who 
surely had never seen service at Valley Forge. He 
was resplendent in a blue velvet coat with red 
satin trimmings and gold lace epaulets. His hat 
bore a gay plume. His wig was much becurled. 
His sword clanked by his side. His salute, with 
his three-cornered hat held at his breast, and his 
heels together, was so elaborate that the troop of 
students coming after hailed him at once as Beau 
Brown. It could be no other. Huntingdon had 
produced but one Beau with a capital B. 

" The password,” he requested, glanced also at 
the tickets, and turning, gave the bell handle a 
mighty pull. 

“ Oh I Oh ! ” exclaimed the ladies from the 
city, falling back in astonishment at the thunders 

253 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


which began to roll at their feet and died away at 
the other side of the house, reluctantly and with 
many reverberations. 

“ Isn’t this a lark ? ” one lady whispered to the 
other. I enjoy them now as well as when I was 
a freshman — and to-day is my fortieth birthday — 
but don’t repeat it, for pity sake I ” 

The doors swung slowly open, disclosing Lillian, 
a bird of Paradise against a background of tall 
dark screens which effectually shut off a view of 
the living-room. It was Lillian’s duty to point 
the way into a narrow hall at the left of the room 
and up the steep old stone stairs lighted by candles 
high on the walls. Behind the screens were sub- 
dued rustlings and murmurs and the patter of 
light feet passing into the modern living-room. 

The guests had nearly all assembled and were 
busily examining the ancient treasures in the two 
rooms above and in the large north room at the 
left of the stone stairs, when the telephone sum- 
moned Winifred to hear an unwelcome message. 

“ Is this ye colonial maiden ? ” asked Louise’s 
voice. 

“ Yes, it is. Why aren’t you on your way 
here? ” 

Because, dear lady, the Fates will it otherwise. 
They have woven it into their web of destiny that 
yours truly and her devoted spouse shall board the 
254 


A TALL GEORGE WASHINGTON 


train in ten minutes for the country. Will be 
obliged to stay over night. One of my numerous 
relatives has taken it into his head that now or 
never he shall make his will and settle his earthly 
affairs. A telegram an hour ago announced his 
decision. And as Ashley’s his lawyer, he will 
have him — you get the connection, do you ? ” 

Oh, Louise, and then ” 

By the way, I almost forgot to tell you ! You 
will still have fifty guests, for we are sending 
others in our places. Good-bye. I would that 
wills might be postponed, but there’s the train, 
and the relative is waiting to have me witness his 
signature. By the way — I hope nothing disturb- 
ing will occur during the evening.” 

Now isn’t it strange that Louise should have 
said that?” Winifred asked Elise repeating the 
last words. 

‘‘Those two missing Orpingtons are on your 
mind, aren’t they ? ” asked Elise. 

“ Yes, and on my nerves, also.” Winifred hesi- 
tated and glanced toward the dining-room door. 
From behind the tall screens in the colonial living- 
room she heard Lillian repeating over and over 
again, “ Climb the old stone stairs and leave your 
wraps.” 

“ Elise, I’m going out and take another look at 
the hen-house,” exclaimed Winifred energetically. 

255 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


‘‘ Is that necessary ? asked Elise. The men 
are all about doing the chores, and will be until 
eight o’clock ” 

“Yes, I know, but ” Winifred was out in 

the kitchen before the last word was spoken. 

Over her costume she threw an old overcoat be- 
longing to Mr. Carter. About her head she wound 
Mrs. Carter’s “ nubia ” and ran lightly along the 
path toward the barns. The cow barn was lighted. 
The Jerseys, far from the “ madding ” colonial 
crowd, were being milked. She was running past 
the sheep pen, when she saw two tall figures peer- 
ing into one of the windows of the Orpington 
house. For an instant her heart choked her. She 
stopped short and opened her mouth to cry out. 
Then she bit her lip in vexation at her own nerv- 
ous terror, for one of the men she saw was the 
“ shover.” The other was evidently a guest. He 
was taller than Jim and, as she approached on 
noiseless feet, she saw he was a masked, gray-wigged 
George Washington with a paper hatchet sticking 
out of his pocket. “ Oh ! ” Jim exclaimed as he 
saw Winifred. “ Here is Miss Lowe. She has a 
key. Now you can see ” 

But the stranger had turned his back quickly 
and was walking rapidly toward the cow barn, 
muttering an inaudible reply. 

“ Huh I ” grunted Jim in a low voice. “ Polite, 
256 


A TALL GEORGE WASHINGTON 

ain^t he? He was mighty anxious to see the hen- 
house a minute agoT 

With a feeling of uneasiness which she could 
not reason away, Winifred watched the two dis- 
appear into the darkness. Then she unlocked the 
hen-house door and entered, switching on the light. 
In vain she told herself that visitors were an every- 
day occurrence at Cartersville, and that it was not 
strange that Jim should be showing one of the 
guests of the evening over the place, especially in 
view of the fact that the inspector’s article had so 
recently thrown the lime-light on the barns. 

Entering the room where the Orpingtons roosted, 
blinking their red eyes at the light, the hen hussy ” 
counted. There were still forty-eight “ true Orps.” 

As she locked the outer door, she hesitated a 
moment. Should she hunt out the man whom 
Mr. Carter had left in charge, the oldest hired 
man ” and tell him — well, tell him what ? She 
tried the door and slipped the key into the over- 
coat pocket. There was absolutely nothing to tell 
him except that she was nervous and that a Father 
of his Country had turned his back on her rather 
hastily ! She laughed and went back to her duties 
as general overseer of the supper. Either Landon 
or Ashley Grey knew every guest to whom a ticket 
had been sold. The very idea of her suspecting 
any of them ! 


257 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


She found the soldiers with their gallant officer 
standing around the living-room devouring sand- 
wiches while the girls were rushing about putting 
the finishing touches to the tables. 

“ Your Gentlemen in Waiting/^ mumbled Joseph 
Amherst Pierce from a full mouth, have failed to 
wait I ” 

“ Owing to the good eatables that are kicking 
around loose here,^^ grinned Landon from behind 
his mask. 

“ Are all the guests here? ” asked Winifred. 

Every last one.’^ 

She turned to Sayles Cooper anxiously. ‘‘ Are 
they enjoying themselves ? 

“ Judging from their appearance — yes.” 

“ They are all over up-stairs and down,” added 
Lillian Antwerp suddenly appearing, “ except, of 
course, in here,” motioning behind her to the 
colonial living-room, “ and such chattering. Oh, 
this is a success I ” 

Literally a howling success,” added Joseph 
Amherst as a laugh in many keys reached them 
through the thick walls. 

“Landon,” asked Winifred presently in a low 
voice, “ go among them, will you, and see if you 
can find a tall George Washington with a hatchet 
in his pocket ? ” 

Landon laid down afresh sandwich with evident 
258 


A TALL GEORGE WASHINGTON 


reluctance, When I find him, what then ? 
Handcuff hm and bring him along, or just walk 
around him ? ” 

Winifred laughed. Just walk around him — 
find out if he is there.” 

In a few moments, the messenger returned. 
“ There is a bewigged individual in the north 
room that answers your description. He^s sitting 
in front of the old loom trying to weave for the 
benefit of Marie Antoinette and a few other royalists 
that he ought not to be associating with 1 ” 

Winifred drew a breath of relief and turned to 
Elise, who was touching her arm. The next mo- 
ment she clapped her hands. 

Attention, everybody ! ” A lull ensued. 

Every one in position. Supper is now ready.” 

Landon grabbed his musket and fled through 
the passage, quoting for the benefit of the hungry 
soldiery at his heels, * Supper is now being served 
in the dining cah at the rear of the train, ^ but that^s 
all the good it will do us for an hour ! ” 

The great colonial living-room had been con- 
verted into the supper room, and such a supper 
room as not one of the fifty guests had ever seen 
before. Long narrow tables were ranged end to 
end on three sides of the room, with the chairs 
placed against the wall sides only, so that all the 
guests would face the hollow square and the fourth 
259 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


side of the room with its roaring, leaping fire and 
its great brick oven. 

In front of the fireplace stood a spinning-wheel 
and a reel. Across the body of the wheel lay 
heaps' of fleecy wool rolls ’’ waiting to be con- 
verted into yarn. Back and forth stepped the 
spinner, a handsome Martha Washington in deli- 
cate fiowered silk gathered full at the waist, her 
beautiful white hair piled high on her head. With 
her right hand she made the big wooden wheel 
hum and sing ; with her left she fed rolls to the 
spindle. 

In front of the oven stood Elise Shreve leaning 
on a fiat shovel, the handle of which was as tall as 
she. And, surely, the original Priscilla never made 
so lovely a picture. The heat from the oven had 
brought a rich color to her cheeks over which lay 
her long black lashes. The excitement of the oc- 
casion had robbed her face of every trace of fatigue, 
and the red lips were parted in an amused smile 
at the tableau she was enacting. The oven door 
was open, and against a background of glowing 
coals stood the huge covered iron basins and kettles, 
pumpkin pies and mince pies. Elise had not 
ventured to bake in this oven, but, to add interest 
to the feast. Miss Bates had filled the ancient pots 
and kettles and heated the oven like ye olden 
times.^^ 


260 



AGAINST A BACKGROUND OF GLOWING COALS 





A TALL GEORGE WASHINGTON 


As the senior girls grouped themselves near the 
fireplace and the soldiers stood at attention, Beau 
Brown, his sword clanking, unlocked the door 
through which the guests had all been sent on 
their arrival, folded back the screens which con- 
cealed that door and the outer one, and with sub- 
dued exclamations of wonder and delight, fifty 
people, representing three centuries of colonization, 
crowded forward. For a few moments it was im- 
possible to seat them. They were everywhere, 
examining the oven, the great mahogany clock, the 
queer candlesticks, the queerer lamps with their 
floating, lighted wicks, the spinner, the accouter- 
ments of the soldiers. 

Winifred^s eyes at once sought the man who had 
run away from her at the hen-house. He paused 
near the doors, the last one to leave the north 
room. His mask covered more of his face than 
the masks of the others, leaving only his mouth 
visible. It was a large mouth, wide and peculiarly 
set at the corners. Below it was a chin rather 
broad for the rest of the face and also set.^’ His 
hair was covered with a gray wig, and his three- 
cornered hat drawn low over his forehead. His 
arms were noticeably long and seemed unrelated 
to his body. 

Finally, above the merry tumult, sounded the 
pounding of the commander’s sword-hilt. “Sit 
261 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


down at the tables, please. Choose your own seats 
and unmask. 

The tumult became more pronounced as the 
masks were removed and the chairs filled. “ Here 
Fve talked with you all the evening,’^ cried a clear 
voice, ‘‘ and had no idea you were you ! It was a 
speech which was repeated many times in many 
places. When they were all seated and had ex- 
claimed over each other and over the old Delft 
ware, a few pieces of which were ornamenting the 
tables, the senior girls and the soldier boys were 
transformed into waiters. From the oven, from 
the fireplace and from the modern living-room 
came an old-fashioned New England supper made 
not less palatable by modern methods as absorbed 
in Domestic Science. 

“ Shades of our Puritan ancestors, how those 
folks are eating I muttered Landon to Winifred 
in Mrs. Carter’s living-room. Will there be 
anything left for us ? ” 

Winifred swept her hand over the table beside 
them. ‘‘ As you see, the supplies are still holding 
out.” 

‘‘ How under the sun does Miss Shreve manage 
to get things pulled forward in that oven with that 
awkward long handled shovel ? ” asked the Beau 
joining them. 

“ Practice,” responded Winifred promptly. 

262 


A TALL GEORGE WASHINGTON 


That shovel is over one hundred years old. It 
used to be used to push the live coals to the back 
of the oven when the oven was heated, and Elise 
wanted to show it off in some way.” 

She’s down in front of the oven now shoveling 
the pies forward with it and half of the people are 
standing up and leaning over the tables watching 
her. Looks as though nobody brought his manners 
along 1 ” 

“ If they had, they’d have lost ’em here, sure I ” 
amended Landon, seizing a platter piled high with 
tarts and disappearing into the supper room. 

This is something like a supper,” Mr. Bois told 
his wife, as he helped himself to two tarts. I 
haven’t sat down to one like it since I left the 
farm up in Vermont. No samples shown here. 
You get the goods delivered in wholesale quan- 
tities.” Then he looked thoughtfully at Mrs. Bois, 
and from her around the quaint old room. “ I 
wonder,” meditatively, '' if those girls would like 
to get up a supper for the club.” 

''Ask ’em,” replied his wife promptly, her 
thoughts on the chapter house furniture. " But 
be sure you offer more than a dollar a plate. Men 
eat so much ! ” brazenly taking a second piece of 
delicious pumpkin pie. 

"Winifred,” Landon appeared in the modern 
living-room with an empty platter, "I’ve just 
263 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


discovered that there^s an unoccupied chair and an 
empty plate in there. Guess dear Georgie^s gone, 
hatchet and all. Must have slipped out while the 
rest were getting seated.^’ 

Winifred entered the supper room hastily and 
scanned the guests. There were thick Washingtons 
and thin ones, but the particular one she looked 
for was not there. She went back with a troubled 
face, but Landon dispelled her uneasiness by quot- 
ing from Beau Brown. The Beau had seen the 
bearer of the hatchet leave, had heard his steps on 
the board walk, and immediately an auto had left 
the gate. 

She drew a long breath. “ I'm anxious," she 
told herself, because the Carters are gone and the 
responsibility rests on me. There's nothing to 
cause anxiety." 

By nine o'clock the guests decorated with rosettes 
of white yarn from the hand of Miss Bates had 
departed loud in their praises of the success of the 
venture. At once, Elise, waiting only to hear the 
joyful news of the generous supper order from Mr. 
Bois, disappeared up-stairs. 

If I'm to do all that baking for the Salvation 
Army and then carry through another supper next 
Friday night, it behooves me not to lose much 
sleep," she told Winifred happily. 

Then, with Newsy as an able assistant, the wait- 
264 


A TALL GEORGE WASHINGTON 


ers proceeded to '' scrape the bottoms of the dishes.'^ 
Newsy had, as usual, made the rounds of the Hill 
with the Evening News, regretting that the supper 
must miss his aid and patronage. With an eye to 
business, however, he had reserved a number of 
papers for the young men present, who were his 
daily patrons. 

Ten o’clock saw the boys depart, and an hour 
later Newsy was sound asleep and the seniors, with 
Miss Bates, were making a few last remarks before 
going to bed. 

I’m glad to-morrow is Saturday,” yawned M. 
Gussie finally. “ No Hill for us to-morrow.” She 
smiled and taking from the bureau drawer a small 
revolver, glanced at the others. “ Do you girls feel 
safer with this gun loaded or not loaded ? ” 

Lillian shivered. Put it back, Gussie. I'm 
afraid with it in sight, and yet it’s comforting to 
wake up in the small hours of the night and think 
that it’s there — and that you are behind it.” 

In the small hours of that night, Winifred sud- 
denly found herself awake and sitting up in bed. 

What’s that? ” she asked aloud. 

Belle turned over sleepily. What’s what ? 
I’ve been awake a long time and haven’t heard 
anything.” 

Winifred lay down again. “ Something awak- 
ened me,” 


265 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


“ Well, something awakened me,'’ Belle returned, 
but not a noise. Guess it must have been my 
‘ still small voice,' because, Winifred, I forgot to 
give you a note that was handed to me last night." 
She got out of bed and switched on the light. 
“ One of the boys gave it to me before supper when 
every one was rushing about at such a rate. He 
said some one handed it to him — he didn't know 
whom. I tucked it into my waist — here it is." 

Winifred took the piece of folded paper and 
opened it. In lead pencil, unsigned, these words 
were scrawled, ‘‘ The tall George Washington will 
bear watching." 


266 


CHAPTER XVII 


A PKISONER OF PEACE 

Winifred, after a brief and troubled sleep, was 
up at daylight Friday morning. The woman, the 
wife of a hired man,^’ who worked for Mrs. Carter 
a few hours each day, had just let herself into the 
kitchen with her latch-key and was moving about 
preparing breakfast. Winifred's object in arising 
so early was to assure herself that the valuable 
Orpingtons still numbered forty-eight. The mem- 
ory of the mysterious tall Washington and the 
anonymous message had kept her awake nearly all 
night. As she was warming her hands at the 
kitchen fire preparatory to going out. Newsy ap- 
peared, sleep still half closing his eyes, his hair 
rumpled, and his mouth agape with yawns. 

It's cold this mornin'," he informed Winifred, 
“ and I gotta hustle with the heater. If I sh' let 
'er go out, Mrs. Carter she'd throw a fit." 

At this moment, a heavy step sounded in the 
wood-house, and the kitchen door admitted the 
“ shover." He wore an overcoat and muffler, a 
derby hat and thick gloves. His appearance indi- 
267 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


cated that he had journeyed further than from the 
home of the Breimans’. 

“ Good-morning, Miss Lowe. I reckoned you’d 
be up on time and out lookin’ after the Orping- 
tons, if you got my note last night.” 

What note ? Winifred was beginning. Then, 
“ Oh, Jim ! Was it you who sent me word to look 
out for the tall Washington ? ” 

Jim unbuttoned his overcoat and loosened his 
muffler. I certainly did. I thought he was 
about the queerest fellow I ever showed over this 
place. Thought he’d bear watchin’. And then his 
mask — everything seemed fixed up right for ’im 
last night, and he acted like Johnnie on the job. 
He took the premises in from A t’ Z if any one 
ever did. Said he’d found out about it from that 
spread in the News. Had a copy with him, and he 
kept me on the jump for an hour answering ques- 
tions and goin’ around. Then he acted s’ blamed 
funny when you come out, and turned tail s’ all- 
fired quick when he’d been mighty anxious before 

then to see them hens ” Here Jim broke off 

to ask, Suppose you’ve been out to ’em this morn- 
ing, haven’t you ? ” 

Winifred hurried into the wood-house and took 
down the old shawl. No, I haven’t, Jim. I’m 
going now.” She ran, as she spoke, winding the 
shawl about head and shoulders. 

268 


A PRISONER OF PEACE 


At her heels ran Newsy, and after them came 
Jim, still talking. 

“ I’d ’a’ seen you about it last night, and then 
looked out myself for the premises, if I hadn’t 
promised to go t’ a dance in town with some friends. 
Just got back now and didn’t even wait to go inf 
the Breimans’ before cornin’ to see you about that 
chap. Never felt that way about a visitor before, 
and they’re common as blackberries around here.” 

The Carter milk wagons were beginning to re- 
turn from their city delivery routes. The women 
were collecting in the milk room, ready to wash 
the bottles brought back by the wagons. The 
milkers were already at work. The barns were 
still lighted by electricity, although the daylight 
enabled Winifred to look into the Orpington roost, 
which lay at the end of the building nearest the 
sheep yard. 

There was no sign of poultry in the roost. 

With her heart in her mouth she ran on to the 
windows commanding a view of their ^Mrawing- 
room.” No hens were visible. 

Oh, dear ! Oh, dear ! ” she cried loudly, stop- 
ping in front of the empty poultry yard with its 
high fence of wire net. 

Every Orp is stole ! ” shouted Newsy as Winifred 
turned speechlessly and faced her two followers. 

Je-ru-sa-lem ! ” ejaculated Jim. Well, I 
269 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


thought it of hm. Had a good chance to carry 
the thing off, find out everything behind that 
mask, and not let no one see his face t’ know fim. 
Say, got the key? The door’s locked all right,” 
shaking it. 

Winifred unlocked the door. The lock worked 
as usual. “ How could he have gotten in, then ? ” 

Jim shook his head. He also shook the win- 
dows. They were firm. He examined them 
closely. Not one bore any evidence of having 
been tampered with. The ground was frozen. It 
showed no telltale footprints. Nor had a single 
member of the families living in the near-by 
tenant houses heard a suspicious sound during 
the night. 

The Orps are stole I ” shouted Newsy bolting 
into the dining-room where the rest were assembled 
wondering at Winifred’s non-appearance. They 
ain’t one left behind.” 

Miss Bates dropped her fork. You don’t tell 
me I And Moses away on that fool wedding tour I 
Well, what next ? ” 

It was a question which Winifred would have 
liked to answer but was unable. The only sug- 
gestion the man in charge had to ofier was to 
reach Mr. Carter with the news and then send to 
the city for a detective. He indicated mildly that 
the poultry had not been left to his care. 

270 


A PRISONER OF PEACE 


Telephone to Louise this minute/^ cried Belle, 
and ask her for a list of those who had tickets.’’ 

“ She’s not at home. Don’t you remember ? 
She called me up last night. I don’t know where 
she went nor how long she is going to stay. But 
we can telephone to Mr. Carter — and must.” 

Clear to New York I ” cried Newsy. “ It’ll cost 
a nawful lot ! ” 

It certainly will, John,” replied Clara sol- 
emnly, but if one of our guests stole the Orp- 
ingtons it is going to cost us Oh I ” She 

caught her breath suddenly remembering the 
chapter house furnishings. ‘‘ Our boat continu- 
ally strikes the rocks lately, and always when 
there seems to be a clear channel ahead.” 

If only the Orps had left a trail of pin-feathers 
behind ’em it would have been convenient,” said 
Belle Eaton lightly, noticing that Winifred was 
eating nothing. 

The latter tried to smile and failed. 

“ Let’s call in some of the boys,” suggested 
M. Gussie, boldly. “ Maybe they could do a little 
detective work — without pay.” 

“ Yes, let’s telephone to the boys,” hopefully 
from Lillian. “ If they could catch the thief, 
Gussie could shoot ’im ! ” 

Directly after breakfast. Miss Bates and Elise 
took their departure, the latter to fill her pastry 
271 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


orders for the Salvation Army. In the colonial 
living-room she thrust into Winifred’s hand the 
ten-dollar bill which had been her share of the 
Hallowe’en enterprise, saying firmly : 

“ Until this matter of the Orpingtons is all 
settled, and I know what expenses you girls will 
have in the matter, I shall take nothing. After 
that — we’ll talk.” 

Winifred’s eyes filled with tears. I can’t allow 
that ” 

You can’t help yourself,” Elise interrupted 
quickly. She threw an arm about Winifred’s 
shoulders. ‘‘ Don’t make a fuss about it, please. 
I’m on the highroad to fame and fortune by way 
of culinary work and colonial suppers ! ” gayly, 
“ and besides, everything can’t be paid for in 
dollars and cents — your friendship, for instance, 
and the contagion of your high courage. Had it 
not been for you, I should have left Huntingdon, 
discouraged, this week, and missed my chance to 
earn.” 

Before Winifred could control her voice, Elise 
was gone, throwing over her shoulder the assurance 
that she should return about four o’clock to learn 
of the progress of events. 

Winifred,” came a wail from the telephone, 
“our boat has struck another rock.” 

Lillian was hanging up the receiver. “ Every 
272 


A PRISONER OF PEACE 


man that we know — that is, know particularly 
well — has gone hunting, because there are no lec- 
tures to-day. A party was organized last night 
on the way from here, and the boys were up and 
off by daylight. They went to the mountains 
twenty miles away on a fox hunt. What next? 

'‘A letter from Mr. Carter,’' answered Belle 
entering the room at that moment. She had been 
to the mail box standing on its post by the road- 
side. “ The rural man has just passed along and 
left this.” She tossed an envelope into Winifred’s 
lap. Of course, it’s addressed to you.” 

Winifred removed a hairpin and slitted the 
envelope. Lillian, put in a call for Mr. Carter 
— or no — wait till we’ve read this.” 

As she unfolded the sheet of paper, a check fell 
out and fluttered to the floor. The girls pounced 
on it, while Winifred, glancing at the letter, an- 
nounced, Our apple money.” 

Twenty dollars I ” cried Lillian. ‘‘ Why, girls, 
it makes one feel worse than ever about the 
Orpingtons. Oh, dear ! Mr. Carter is so good 
to us.” 

Read the letter, Winifred,” begged Erma. 

‘ Dear Young Ladys, 

‘‘ ‘ Am no writer ditto speller. Can run 
seven hired men and four hundred acres better 
than a pen. we are well and hope you are the 

273 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


same. Please find enclosed a ck for the apples. 
Commission man just sent returns. She is having 
a good time. We went to too plays, front seats. 
Got money. Going to spend, she thinks that way 
more now. We go over to see her cousin to-mor- 


Winifred Lowe,^^ shrieked Rebecca. That’s 
to-day! Just when we want him. Where does 
her cousin live? ” 

Winifred controlled the quiver in her lips and 
read on : 

‘‘ * Take all truck and Druisy along and stay 
over Sunday. Head for home Monday. Great 
weather. Longest letter I ever rote. She likes 
the tower better than she was bound to first. 

'Yours, 

" ' Moses Carter.’ ” 

The girls looked at each other in consternation. 
Every prop seemed taken from beneath them. 

"It’s impossible, then, to reach him,” groaned 
Erma. " Let’s telephone to the chief of police to 
send us a detective.” 

" We’re beyond the city limits,” said Winifred 
quietly. " The police have nothing to do with 
Cartersville. But he might recommend one for 
us to engage.” 

Acting on this idea, she called up the chief and 
274 


A PRISONER OF PEACE 


asked him for a detective. The chief gave her 
three addresses. The first two were of no use, the 
men being out of town. The third was at his 
home and not exactly enthusiastic at the idea of 
entering the service of a company of girl students. 
He cleared his throat laboriously, said he was on 
another case, couldnT visit Cartersville before 
afternoon, but if she’d describe the supposed thief 
he might get on his track — possibly. 

‘‘ He was tall and thin,” Winifred began, and 

had a determined mouth with thin lips and ” 

Beard ? ” asked the detective. 

No, smooth face, large ears which stand out 
from his head, and arms that swing peculiarly 
from the shoulder, in sort of a loose jointed 
way ” 

Behind her came a subdued exclamation from 
M. Gussie, and when Winifred finally turned 
from the telephone, Gussie burst out, ‘‘ Why, 
Winifred Lowe. Is he the man ? I followed him 
up last night in the north room and tried ray best 
to find out who he was. I suspected that he was 
one of the Deke freshmen, and so I wouldn’t let 
him go — and he wanted to go ! Let me tell you 
that detective will have to get up early in the 
morning to land that thief ! He was as quick as 
a flash with his tongue. Parried every question 
I asked him, and worked like a Trojan to get away 
275 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


from me. Finally, I allowed him to escape when 
I knew that he was not the man I had in mind. 
Why — his voice — did you hear him speak ? 

Winifred shook her head. 

Well, I would recognize his voice among a mul- 
titude of sounds. It is so much heavier than his 
weight warrants that it comes as a surprise. Oh, 
I’d know him again with a mask all over his face 
or without one at all. I didn’t know before that 
he was the suspect.” 

Winifred sat down numb with discouragement 
and the magnitude of the loss which could not 
appeal to the rest as it appealed to her, the 
guardian of the Orpingtons. 

“I think,” she said, “that he will stay a mere 
suspect judging from the lack of enthusiasm, not 
to say interest, in that detective’s voice. Oh, 
girls 1 Can’t you think of something to do ? ” 
No one had ever heard Winifred’s voice sound 
so helpless a note before. 

“ The only thing which occurs to me,” returned 
Rebecca shrewdly, “ is to carry you up-stairs and 
put you to bed — and then wait.” 

M. Gussie, being a young lady of action, objected 
to an inactive wait. Secretly she was fascinated 
by the situation. “ It’s some like Texas down by 
the Rio Grande,” she remarked at the dinner table, 
and despite her sympathy with the erstwhile keeper 
276 


A PRISONER OF PEACE 

of the Orpingtons, there was a lively satisfaction in 
her tone. 

‘‘ I would not have had it so for the world, she 
confided to Lillian, but as long as it has hap- 
pened, I’m glad I’m here to see the thing through ! ” 

M. Gussie, in fact, would have enjoyed meeting 
up ” with the thief himself, as they say by the 
Rio Grande. Therefore, in the lone hope of fall- 
ing on a “ trail of pin-feathers ” she spent a restless 
day vibrating between the house and outbuildings, 
searching the hen-houses, poking around the barns 
and silos and corn-cribs. With her roamed Newsy, 
who was alert, but strangely silent. The pin-feather 
trail was not discovered, but another was which 
distanced it figuratively by a thousand exciting 
leagues. 

The discovery took place at exactly five in the 
afternoon. An early dusk had fallen, the sky being 
heavily overcast. The cow barn was aglow with 
light, but the Two-Faced House lay in gloom. The 
girls had succeeded in getting Winifred into Belle 
Eaton’s blue kimono and under a blanket, where 
she lay surrounded by hot water bags, her ears 
buzzing from the effects of quinine. She was en- 
joying a chill and was being zealously attended by 
five embryo nurses who sat on the edge of the bed 
administering hot lemonade and remarks, the latter 
not calculated to reduce a patient’s temperature. 

277 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


At the head of the bed stood Elise, who had arrived 
earlier than she expected, and, of course, had been 
treated to all the sayings and doings which had 
occurred since her departure in connection with 
the Orpingtons. At present she was hatted and 
coated and ready to depart. M. Gussie Barker was 
not present. She was still roaming. 

“ That old detective has not put in an appear- 
ance once,^’ Lillian told Elise indignantly. “ Isn’t 
he the meanest? And we haven’t heard from him 
either. I’ve tried to call him up at least once 
every half hour, and can get no reply. And, would 
you believe it ? He had the impudence to laugh 

right in Winifred’s face ” 

‘‘ Five miles away,” murmured Belle. 

“ I mean — well, you know what I mean ! ” 
retorted Lillian. “ They were telephoning, of 
course, and he wouldn’t believe that the Orps 
cost so much.” 

He thought,” put in Belle, of his own few 
fowls that are probably parading around his back 
yard, colors mixed, blood unknown, that do noth- 
ing except vulgarly lay eggs.” 

“ It’s destroyed my faith in the detective system,” 
Lillian went on in a grieved tone. “ I expected 
him to come right up here and ask us questions 
that didn’t seem to touch the case by a thousand 
miles, like, ' Did the man carry his handkerchief 
278 


A PRISONER OF PEACE 


in his right or his left hand ? ^ And then I thought 
he’d go out to the hen-house and glance around a 
moment like Sherlock Holmes and stoop suddenly 
and grab up something and then say, ‘ There, young 
ladies, don’t worry I Take your afternoon naps as 
usual, and in an hour you shall see the false-hearted 
Father of his Country and the Orps.’ Then I ex- 
pected to get him to show what he had picked up 
ere he departed, and he’d smile inscrutably and 
allow us to see half of an ordinary shoe button. 
And after we’d all slept, and were feeling no end of 
confidence in him, he’d come in with the hens in 
one hand, and our thief in the other. And in the 
presence of a great tableau of people he’d stoop 
carelessly and fit that half shoe button on ” 

Lillian’s spell-binding tale was interrupted by a 
commotion below. The outer door of Mrs. Carter’s 
living-room opened and slammed shut. Some one 
dashed through the dining-room and kitchen. The 
kitchen door opened, and the flying feet sounded 
on the wood-house floor. Then back again through 
kitchen, dining-room, living-room, and the passage 
between the two houses. Here the sound was lost 
in the thunders of the heathenish bell in the 
colonial house. 

“ The boys ! ” cried Lillian hopefully. 

But Gussie’s voice, high-pitched but perfectly 
composed, was calling, ^^Go around the house, 
279 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


please, to your right. I can’t open this door. 
Follow the wall through the trees and stop at the 
first door you reach.” 

“ My goodness me ! ” cried Lillian. Gussie 
doesn’t know she is directing some one to the 
wood-house door I ” 

Winifred sat up, disorganizing the water-bag de- 
fense. What can it be ? I know Gussie. She’s 

excited, if she does sound cool ” But her 

nurses had decamped in a body. The patient lost 
no time in following. 

With the other girls at her heels, Lillian rushed 
down the stairs and had just opened the dining- 
room door, when M. Gussie flashed past, her dark 
eyes blazing with excitement, her cheeks scarlet 
oases in an exceedingly pale face, a pallor of ex- 
citement and not fear, however. Contrary to her 
habit she was moving rapidly, but with her usual 
sureness of motion. 

With eyes enlarged by wonder and lips parted, 
Lillian wordlessly annihilated the space to the 
kitchen door in two bounds, the others still at her 
heels, Winifred, unobserved, bringing up the rear, 
pattering along in bedroom slippers. Belle’s kimono 
trailing, two water bags hugged in her arms. 

In passing the switch at the side of the 
kitchen door, Gussie turned on the lights. Open- 
ing the door into the wood-shed she said in clear, 
280 


A PRISONER OF PEACE 


strong voice, Come through this way, please. I 
have just come in and have not properly opened 
the house. I 

She never finished the sentence. The girls caught 
a glimpse of a masculine figure, muffied in a long 
overcoat, advancing through the wood-house. 
They saw beyond him the outer open door. They 
saw a small boy pop into the doorway, grasp the 
door and slam it shut with a war-whoop of joy. 
Then Gussie with a swift movement dashed the 
kitchen door shut in the face of the advancing 
man, the key turning in its lock almost simul- 
taneously. A second later the shrill boy voice 
beyond yelled excitedly, This door’s locked fast 
as anything. Miss Barker. He’s pinched, all 
right ! ” 

Gussie turned her blazing eyes on the astonished 
group. “ It’s the thief,” she whispered. The tall 
George Washington. Don’t one of you stir.” 

She disappeared rapidly up the stairs, while the 
girls literally obeyed her injunction. The wood- 
house prisoner also obeyed it. No sound came 
from him. In a moment the jailer reappeared, 
erect, determination fairly oozing from her pores. 
In her hand she bore something with a shiny, slen- 
der barrel, and bore it in a steady hand. No won- 
der she had won the admiration of the cowboys on 
the Texan ranch. 


281 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


Without a word to the paralyzed group in the 
kitchen, she marched to the wood-shed door and 
addressed the man on the other side, There’s no 
escape possible. I have a revolver here, and I can 
use it. You are guarded on both sides. Find a 
seat on the wood-pile and make yourself as com- 
fortable as possible under the circumstances. 
You’ll be liberated as soon as — as it is feasible,” 
cautiously. 

This discreet and firm speech brought no reply. 
In the kitchen, the proverbial dropping pin would 
have been heard. Then, suddenly, there ensued 
a scraping sound against the door which caused 
Lillian Antwerp to go “ up into the air ” literally. 
Belle declared later that she put at least twelve 
inches between her feet and the floor, but Belle 
was not in a state herself to insure dispassionate 
judgment. 

The prisoner had not ventured to seek the wood- 
piles in the darkness, but had seated himself, still 
speechless, on the broad door-sill which was also a 
step to the lower level of the wood-house floor. 

Gussie glanced over her shoulder and crooked a 
finger at Erma. The latter flew to her side with 
an alacrity not to be outdone by the ablest aide-de- 
camp. Not even the fear of the revolver held in 
so steady a hand deterred her. M. Gussie was a 
born commander. 


282 


A PRISONER OF PEACE 


Go to the telephone/’ the commander’s voice 
was a murmur, call up the detective. If you 
can’t get him get the constable of the township, 
and tell him we have a prisoner. Shut all the 
doors between so he can’t hear. Tell him to come 
here at once.” 

Erma flew to do the bidding. 

Again the finger crooked, and this time it gal- 
vanized Rebecca into action. 

“ Go out to the barn,” whispered M. Gussie, 
and get a couple of the men.” 

Rebecca went, but never had the way seemed so 
long. Her feet stumbled, her eyes were blurred. 
There were thieves behind every tree and building. 

Through two walls and the intervening space of 
the wood-shed, soared Newsy’s voice. I don’t 
hear nothin’. Is he all right. Miss Barker?” 

All right,” the strong shout went back. 

Lillian sat down suddenly. Her teeth were chat- 
tering. “How c-can you b-be so cool, Gussie?” 

“ Nothing to roping a steer,” with a shrug of her 
shoulders. “A steer puts up a fight for his 
liberty.” 

“Sh I ” implored Winifred in a sibilant whisper. 
“ Don’t goad him on. We don’t want him to 
b-break the door or the wood-house windows.” 

The latter were difficult of access, being only half 
sashes located under the eaves, and would have to 
283 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


be reached over unstable piles of wood. The pris- 
oner made no effort to reach them. 

Suddenly above the faint sound of Erma’s quav- 
ering voice at the telephone, came the tramp of 
heavy shoes and heavy tones. 

“ The boys ! ” cried Lillian aloud, infinite relief 
surging through her tone. 

Winifred suddenly bethought her. Gathering 
up the kimono, she fled to her room, the chills 
forgotten as she hastily scrambled into her dress. 
When she reappeared, the two hired men whom 
Rebecca had brought were occupying the back- 
ground in the kitchen, the girls were huddled 
into the corner behind the stove, clinging desper- 
ately to each other, while in the foreground stood 
M. Gussie, still undaunted, with Landon, his lips 
applied to the crack of the door attempting a 
pleasant conversation with the prisoner, but find- 
ing it a monologue. The middle distance was 
occupied by Beau Brown in evening dress and 
patent leather pumps, Joseph Amherst Pierce and 
Sayles Cooper. The men were not devoid of vis- 
ible apprehension, but it was directed, not at the 
wood-shed door, but at the shiny barrel pro- 
truding from M. Gussie’s capable hand. They 
knew nothing of her career down by the Rio 
Grande. 

Finally Landon straightened himself. ‘*Aw — 
284 


A PRISONER OF PEACE 


let^s jerk ^im out of that, fellows ! he exclaimed, 
throwing off his coat and removing his cuffs. 

At these warlike preparations Lillian gave a 
scream which savored as much of anticipation as 
of fear. 

The other boys followed Landon^s example; the 
Beau folding his coat carefully, and tiptoeing into 
the dining-room, laid it tenderly on the table. He 
determined to be found prudently on the outskirts 
of any scrap. 

“ He may have a gun ! whispered Winifred 
with a fearful glance at Landon, who stood nearest 
the door of the prison. 

M. Gussie^s small chin protruded aggressively. 
She retreated to the middle of the room and raised 
her gun and voice at the same time. Open the 
door. I am covering him. He’ll not draw on 
me ! ” 

Joseph Amherst and the Beau hastily side- 
stepped from the path of the shining barrel. 
“ Might go off,” murmured Joseph with a 
shudder. 

Landon himself looked more uncomfortably 
toward the middle of the room than toward the 
door he was unlocking. 

Come on in here,” he ordered, throwing the 
door wide open. 

It was a moment tense enough to satisfy even 
285 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


Lillian. In the path of the light from the kitchen 
stood a tall man with his head sunken into his 
upturned collar and his hat drawn so far over 
his face that only his nose and chin were visible. 
But it was the maddest looking nose and chin 
that were ever borne across the threshold of that 
kitchen, or that magically changed the atmos- 
phere of a place. For, as the stranger stepped 
forward, M. Gussie, to her unbounded amaze- 
ment, found herself looking down the barrel of 
her weapon straight into the eyes of Elise Shreve, 
and the eyes were very big and densely, glitter- 
ingly black. Eliseys face was set and white, and 
her forehead almost touched the end of the re- 
volver’s barrel, but neither face nor voice showed 
any fear — for herself. She spoke only six words, 
but they were the most electrical six that the 
assembled company had ever heard. 

Don’t you dare shoot Dr. Gregg I ” 


1 


286 


CHAPTER XVIII 


AN AMATEUR DETECTIVE 

For the second time that evening, the dropping 
of a pin would have been a noticeable event in 
the kitchen. M. Gussie^s right arm sank slowly 
to her side as though worked by a mechanical 
apparatus, while her fascinated eyes were held by 
Elise. The stranger removed his hat, revealing 
a good-looking face, and eyes which viewed the 
world through round glasses. As though by magic 
his face had changed its expression. The mad 
look had disappeared, and in its place was dawn- 
ing an at-peace-with-all-the-world expression beau- 
tiful to behold had any one been in an observant 
state of mind. His eyes dwelt on the figure in 
front of Gussie to the exclusion of the other mem- 
bers of the group. 

Landon was a petrified doorkeeper. He was 
the only man present who understood the signifi- 
cance of the name, Dr. Cregg.^^ To the others 
the prefix sounded merely appallingly respectable 
in view of their fighting trim, and the man who 
bore it looked every inch a gentleman. The Beau 
yearned earnestly for his coat and cuffs. 

287 


A SENIOR CO-ED 

Have you got 4m pinched ? yelled Newsy 
through the locked wood-house door. Receiving 
no reply, he cautiously unlocked the door and 
opened it wide enough to admit a thin face which 
held two observant eyes. But his shrill, impatient 
voice had ended the heavy silence of the moment 
in the kitchen. 

Elise turned from M. Gussie, her white face red- 
dening painfully. She did not greet Dr. Cregg 
nor even glance at him, omissions which did 
not seem to disturb him at all. She looked at 
Winifred ais the drowning man reaches for a 
straw. 

This,*^ she stammered confusedly in a small 

voice, “ is a — a — friend, Dr. Cregg of 

Her breath did not last long enough to provide 
Dr. Cregg with a residential town, but Winifred 
proved herself a substantial straw in the crisis. 
With an effort she subdued her boundless aston- 
ishment at the situation and began to introduce 
Dr. Cregg to his erstwhile captors. That was the 
one idea which was partially at her command. 
She tripped and stumbled and halted. She intro- 
duced the young men first, forgetting Landon 
altogether, but every one was too embarrassed to 
remember her mistakes against her. She inter- 
changed the names of Sayles Cooper and Joseph 
Amherst Pierce, but no one was the wiser. 

288 


AN AMATEUR DETECTIVE 

Paralysis had made temporary victims of the 
group. Each head bobbed in turn at the stranger, 
but every hand seemed tied to its owner's side and 
every tongue glued to the roof of its owner's mouth 
until Lillian's turn arrived. 

Lillian had been gathering her forces together 
resolutely and the result was a smile, and a clear, 

excited, I'm glad to meet you. Dr. X. Y. 

Oh, dear I ” She fell back with her hand over her 
mouth, but Dr. Gregg did not seem actively aware 
of her existence. His eyes glanced from her to 
Elise edging toward the dining-room door. 

But when Winifred spoke the name of the statue 
holding the gun, Dr. Gregg smiled. The statue 
did not. She tipped her head forward as though 
it were hinged in the rear. Dr. Gregg stepped 
impulsively in front of her saying, “ Pardon me, 
I should like to shake hands with you." He held 
out his hand. 

Bewildered, M. Gussie extended the gun barrel, 
and the late prisoner calmly touched the hand 
which bore it, smiled again, although without 
amusement, and then stepped quickly to the side 
of the vanishing Elise. 

‘‘ Your aunt sent me to fetch you home. I came 
from there here. Are you ready to go ? " 

Elise was bending low over her glove struggling 
with the fastening. The flush had mounted to 
289 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


her temples. It did not fade as she murmured, 
Yes, I am ready now,’’ and hurried through the 
rooms to the outer door of the living-room with- 
out even a ‘‘ good-night.” 

Dr. Gregg followed. At the outside door, how- 
ever, he turned. Elise did not. But turning or 
not turning was immaterial as no one else had 
stirred from the kitchen. 

The outer door opened and closed. A moment 
later Newsy’s voice sounded a farewell note from 
the front of the house. Say, Mister, I never 
thought you was the one that took them hens 
from first t’ last, but I’m awful sorry you didn’t, 
just the same I ” 

The assemblage remaining in the kitchen looked 
interrogation marks at each other. ‘‘ What under 

the sun, moon and stars ” Joseph Amherst 

Pierce began, and ceased, words not being express- 
ive enough. 

“ Well, if blushes carry any tales ” Landon 

burst forth, and then he, too, paused and finished 
with raised eyebrows, Pleasant day yesterday, 
so they say I ” 

Winifred sat down on the wood-box. We’ve 
let him go without one word of explanation or 
apology ” 

‘‘ It’s his business to explain to us ! ” cried Lil- 
lian indignantly. 


290 


AN AMATEUR DETECTI TE 


Explain what? ” demanded Landon still hold- 
ing the door open. 

'' Why — explain why — why he didn't steal the 
Orpingtons I " 

'' This is the biggest mess yet ! " muttered Lan- 
don. He slammed the door and looked at Wini- 
fred. Then he glanced down at his cuffless shirt 
sleeves and muttered, Gee whiz I and he is Billy 
Gregg ! " 

Beau Brown sought his coat and cuffs. Darn 
it I " He relieved his feelings thus in the privacy 
of the empty dining-room. “ Glad there wasn’t 
a row, though,” consolingly. “ These trousers are 
getting too all fired tight ! They wouldn’t come 
through much of a fight whole.” 

Stearns,” Joseph Amherst Pierce was saying 
solemnly, do consider what it might mean to a 
chap in spectacles to have a good-looker like that 
Miss Shreve throw herself between him and the 
cannon’s mouth the way she did ! ” He waved 
a dramatic arm toward M. Gussie’s gun. 

Romance runs riot,” intoned Belle from the 
edge of the wood-box beside Winifred. Entry and 
exit explained by it.” 

Well, I guess so ! ” emphatically from Erma. 

I think we needn’t worry about anything in con- 
nection with Dr. Gregg here to-night. It’s my 
private opinion that he doesn’t know — nor care — 
291 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


whether we took him for a hen thief or a murderer. 
The moment he got his eyes pinned on Elise he 
didn't know anything else — beside Gussie," as an 
afterthought. 

“ Why," demanded Gussie at length emerging 
from her stupor, why did the gentleman desire 
the privilege of touching my gun hand ? Answer 
me that." 

Because fortune favors the brave and the fair," 
glibly from Belle. 

I'll answer something if you don’t put that 
awful thing away I " began Lillian. I've been 
on pins and needles for an hour fearing it would 
go off.” She had not thought of it for some mo- 
ments. 

Gussie raised her weapon, regarded it attentively, 
and began to smile guiltily. “ I — I forgot the 
cartridges," she confessed. “ It isn't loaded.” 
She laid it on the kitchen table. 

It is all the queerest I " Clara Pike burst out. 
She stood beside the stove staring into space. 

What did he come here for last night, and why 
did he run off and how did he get into the party ? 
Who brought him ? Why did he prowl around 
the buildings until he aroused the suspicions of our 
worthy ^ shover ’ ? Why? Which? When " 

“ Miss Barker," Landon addressed M. Gussie 
ceremoniously, “ will you kindly inform us how 
292 


AN AMATEUR DETECTIVE 


you chanced to land that fish high and dry behind 
lock and key in the wood-house? ’’ 

Before we found out that the fish was a whale ! ’’ 
added Erma beneath her breath. 

M. Gussie smiled. Despite the outcome of her 
late adventures, they still charmed her. 

‘‘ Newsy and I saw him coming to the house from 
the car. It was dark, but I recognized him by the 
peculiar swing of his arms and the way he carried 
his head. He was almost at the gate, and we had 
to hustle. Newsy and I. I didn’t stop to do any 
reasoning. I simply thought he had arrived to 
spy out the land for more plunder, and I was bound 
to interfere with his plan.” She chuckled more 
amusedly. The faces of the others began to relax. 

This plan popped into my head like a fiash. It 
was a good plan.” She gazed regretfully at the 
wood-house door. It was so simple to carry out 
too. Newsy fiew around and put the key in the 
outside of the lock in the further door, and then hid 
until our friend and fellow citizen got well inside 
the room. Oh, it worked to a charm ! ” She sighed. 

Didn’t it though ! ” enthusiastically from the 
Beau. And it very evidently, in some of its later 
phases, charmed the gentlemanly prisoner.” 

From the kitchen came the rattle of pans and 
kettles, cheerful supper preparations which warned 
the young men that it was time to go. 

293 


A SENIOR CO-^ED 


“ Whenever you need us,” Landon mentioned 
ceremoniously at the door, I trust you’ll be able 
to find our telephone number in the directory.” 

“ If we chance to round up a bunch of Orping- 
tons on our way up you’ll see us before you can 
use the number,” added Beau Brown. 

The moment they were out of the house, Gussie 
turned to the girls. Now what about Dr. Cregg ? ” 
she demanded energetically. What are you hold- 
ing back ? ” 

The others looked at each other and then at M. 
Gussie. 

“ Don’t all speak at once,” she admonished. 

Winifred, suppose you go to the head of the con- 
versation class.” 

It’s a dead secret, Gussie,” the head of the class 
began, but as it’s shared now by an unknown 
number of people, and as you’ve bravely held up 
the object of the secret for investigation we’ll let 
you in.” 

Whereupon, the six, talking some of the time in 
concert, made known the history of Dr. Cregg, 
likewise his mother’s connection with Lillian. 
Before the history was finished M. Gussie was sit- 
ting on the floor in a dejected heap. 

“ ' Oh, Huntingdon, for thee ! ’ ” she mourned. 

One of thy daughters has had more zeal than 
• leal ’ I ” 


294 


AN AMATEUR DETECTIVE 


Lillian arose reluctantly. We certainly have 
finished Dr. Gregg, so far as the college is con- 
cerned I ” confidently. “ I shall sit down this mo- 
ment and write to his mother.^’ 

‘‘ His mother I cried Belle Eaton. “ Why write 
to his mother ? Please don^t spread this affair from 
Dan to Beersheba, otherwise from Huntingdon to 
New York ! ’’ 

Well, surely. Belle, you don^t expect it’s going 
to be kept under the spare feather bed in the dark 
closet, do you ? ” demanded Clara Pike. “ Those 
boys will let it out, see if they don’t ! ” with an 
injured air. 

A groan issued from the dejected heap on the 
floor. And me pointing a gun at all that mass 
of learning.” 

'' I must say, girls, that he is decidedly a well- 
trimmed ^ mass,’ ” declared Rebecca. And he 
doesn’t look any wiser than — than I do I ” 

M. Gussie stirred. Just back from taking a 
German degree, and I shut him in the wood-shed ! 
Oh, girls ! ” Her voice became a wail. 

The Twisters giggled. “ I should like to intro- 
duce him to Cuddles, as he is acquiring new ideas,” 
muttered Clara reflectively. 

Lillian raised her voice. “ Winifred, would you 
write to his mother, if you were I ? ” 

“ Write to the chief offender himself,” inter- 
295 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


rupted Belle glibly. Draw a picture of seven 
simple sisters sitting in sackcloth and soot and 
ask him to consider the source of his late mishaps 
and be charitable.^’ 

Elise will explain,” said Winifred. “ She knows 
the whole thing from our side ” 

“ But she’s evidently not on our side now,” 
Rebecca cut in. 

Girls,” tragically from M. Gussie, I shall 
never look on his face again ! ” 

Supper ! ” called an unceremonious voice from 
the dining-room. 

The girls, dragging Gussie to her feet, obeyed 
the call. Newsy already stood at his place wait- 
ing impatiently. 

Say,” he began slipping into his chair as soon 
as they appeared, “ you don’t mind if I eat fast to- 
night and right away — do ye ? ” 

No,” replied Winifred. She glanced at the 
clock. Why this haste, John ? You’re early.” 

Newsy shook his head and looked wise. Not 
fer what I’m goin’ t’ do.” 

'' And what is that ? ” asked Clara Pike. “ John- 
nie, if you go to springing anything new on us to- 
night I’ll— I’ll ” Words failed her. 

Newsy added mystery to his expression. Are 
you goin’ to be here to-night ? ” he asked Winifred. 

So if I should want t’ git ye over the ’phone ” 

296 


AN AMATEUR DETECTIVE 


Winifred dropped her fork. “John, what do 
you mean ? 

Newsy grinned. He drew himself up impor- 
tantly. “ Aw, nothin' much. I ain’t goin’ up t’ 
the Hill to-night. Goin’ t’ git another boy t’ do 
my beat,” and with that the young news-dealer 
would say nothing more. As he was preparing to 
depart, however, he put his head in at the dining- 
room door, and grinned at Winifred, “ Don’t you 
forget now, and go away.” 

“ No, I shall not forget.” Winifred leaned back 
wearily. “ I couldn’t forget myself far enough to 
take an unnecessary step to-night.” 

As they returned to the living-room, however, 
she aroused herself. “ I’m going to get hold of 
Louise Grey if possible. I do believe she can 
throw some light on the subject of Dr. Gregg.” 

“ If it seemeth good to you,” suggested Erma, 
Clara and I will hold you up at the ’phone while 
you are receiving the light.” 

Laughingly, the Twisters supported her across 
the room. After them came Gussie, occasionally 
giving vent to her feelings in a groan. 

“ How any one can smile to-night is beyond my 
understanding,” she sighed looking reproachfully 
at the Twisters. 

“ Louise, is it you?” Winifred was asking at the 
transmitter. 

297 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


What’s the matter with your voice ? ” de- 
manded Louise. Have you a cold ? ” 

No — only a chill.” 

In your mind or your bones ? ” 

Both, I ” 

Take a cup of boneset tea for the good of your 
bones,” interrupted Louise, and come over here 
for the night — that will aid your mind.” 

‘‘ I can’t possibly.” 

‘‘Which?” 

Winifred laughed. “ There’s no boneset within 
reach, and I haven’t energy enough to take me as 
far as your house. I have loads of things to tell 
you, but I’m too tired to-night to talk.” 

“ I hope that supper didn’t tire you out, because 
more are required. We came in on the train with 
Mrs. Willow, and she is charmed with your Hal- 
lowe’en supper. Now, can you get up a four 
o’clock tea for about one hundred guests two 
weeks from Saturday ” 

“Yes,” cried Winifred joyfully without waiting 
to hear the end. “ We will do it gladly.” 

Then, at once, Louise asked tentatively, “ Did 
anything — unusual — happen on Hallowe’en ? ” 

“ Louise Grey ! Tell us right here if you knew 
Dr. Gregg was coming — we’re in the most awful 
mess — but that’s too long to tell now. How did 
he get here ? ” 


298 


AN AMATEUR DETECTIVE 


Louise laughed. “ Now that you know he was 
there I'll tell you all we know about it. Ashley 
is off this minute hunting him up. Why, he tele- 
phoned Ashley from The Armitage the afternoon 
of the supper. Said he had been in the city only 
two hours, but had seen a notice of the supper in 
the News " 

“ I didn't know it was there," interrupted 
Winifred. 

“ Well, it was, and a list of the hostesses and a 
mention of the fact that the guests were limited 
and that Ashley was selling a few tickets to the 
alumni. He telephoned to Ashley for a ticket. 
Of course there wasn't a ticket left, but Ashley 
never hesitated. He said a ticket would go to The 
Armitage by a messenger boy at once, if not sooner I 
Then X. Y. Z. hesitated, and said that for reasons 
— he didn't state 'em — he wished his presence at 
the supper to be unsuspected. Hence, thusly it 
was that your bosom friend could not give you 
any information on the subject." 

Is that all he said, Louise ? " begged Winifred. 

Tell me every word." 

<< Why — no. I believe he asked Ashley about a 
costumer — and — oh, yes ! He asked if this co- 
lonial house was the home of the man an account 
of whose dairy was in the paper. That's all. Ash- 
ley sent his own ticket, but after consideration I 
299 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


intended to stay at home for the good of the college, 
and make Ashley go to attend the learned doctor, 
but as you know, we were called hence on business. 
Ashley, however, wrung from him the promise of 
an interview, but how,’^ Louise broke off to ask, 
‘‘ did you discover that he was he ? 

Winifred groaned. ‘‘ Louise, we did the most 
awful thing — I can’t tell it over the ’phone. I don’t 
know where to begin. Elise Shreve knew him. 
She was his mother’s secretary part of the time she 
was at Columbia College. You’ll be here next 
week to talk over the tea, and then I’ll tell you.” 

Winifred hung up the receiver, told the girls all 
that she had learned, and then, snatching up a 
pile of unfolded numbers of the News from the 
library table, found the issue of October thirtieth. 

“Just as I suspected,” she cried triumphantly. 
“ Here’s a list of us, and the last name is Elise 
Shreve. That’s how he found out where she was 
to be.” 

“ Why didn’t he want to be known ? ” asked 
Erma Cunningham, her interest always kindling 
at a suspicion of mystery. 

“ Because his photograph lay in Elise’s hat box 
face down I ” declared Winifred with conviction. 

“ Wanted to spy out the land before being seen,” 
volunteered Rebecca, “and find out how he would 
be received.” 


300 


AN AMATEUR DETECTIVE 


“ Thought he’d have a chance to talk with her,” 
declared Clara, and when he found he couldn’t 
he blended with the outer night.” 

A few moments later Clara Pike yawned, half 
arose and fell back into her chair. What about 
work, girls ? Monday is coming and we shall be 
obliged to make up for our dear instructors’ sickness 
to-day by overdoses next week.” 

It seems to me,” declared Lillian solemnly, *‘as 
though I could never study again after last night 
and to-day — so much excitement I ” with a long 
satisfied breath. 

The girls were climbing the stairs when the 
telephone bell caused them to pause. Winifred 
turned back to the instrument. 

Newsy’s excited voice fell on her ear with a 
message which banished weariness. Say, Miss 
Lowe, you git yourself ready right away and come 
down here. I’ve found some of the Orps. Mind 
now, quick, before the place shuts up.” 

What place ? Where, Johnnie ? ” Winifred 
shouted in her excitement. 

I’m here ’t a drug store on Fifth Street, and 
they’s a Bird and Animal House next door. I’ll 
watch out fer ye. Git offn the car at Fifth Street 
and I’ll be there t’ meet ye. How soon can ye 
come ? ” 

In ten minutes — right away, this minute ” 

301 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


Here Newsy interrupted. “ See here, Miss Lowe, 

don’t you ” his voice was cut off suddenly. 

The circuit had been broken and Winifred did not 
wait to learn what she should not do. 


302 


CHAPTER XIX 


THE BIRD AND ANIMAL HOUSE 

The street car/^ exclaimed Rebecca when Wini- 
fred had explained the message. The youngster 
has forgotten that we have a touring car and a 
shover at our command ! I, for one, vote unan- 
imously to go with you.'^ 

Lillian scrambled to her feet from the floor where 
she had been sitting against Rebecca’s knee. Of 
course, we all go. What is a little learning com- 
pared to all this excitement?” 

In the words of one much wiser than I, ^ it is a 
dangerous thing,’ ” returned Clara solemnly, and 
being dangerous, let’s not All our heads too full.” 

“ Yes,” responded Lillian in a grieved tone as 
she ran up-stairs. “ You can afford to talk, you 
who do your work so quickly and well.” 

Clara paused long enough at the head of the 
stairs to bow low. I know that compliment was 
a mistake, but I’ll take it for what it is worth.” 

Lillian scrambled into her coat. “ I am so ex- 
cited I didn’t think what I was saying,” she re- 
plied truthfully. 


303 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


As they hurried down-stairs, Rebecca, in ad- 
vance, called over her shoulder, Are we all here ? 
Somebody call the roll.’^ 

“ Attention, Soldiers of Fortune.” M. Gussie 
raised her voice to bring it above the confusion. 

I positively decline, after the late unpleasantness, 
to leave by way of the wood-shed door. I shall go 
out this way and join you.” 

With that, followed by gibes and laughter, she 
stalked majestically out of the door of the living- 
room and joined the others on the walk leading to 
the home of the Breimans. 

The sky was overcast and moonless. The night 
was dark and windy. The girls were guided only 
by the light which shone from Mrs. Breiman’s 
kitchen windows, and the glimmer of white made 
by the gravel walk along which the seven stumbled. 

“What next?” gasped Belle. “What do you 
suppose Johnnie has unearthed ? Surely not the 
real Orpingtons ? ” 

She spoke to Rebecca, who was her running 
mate. The latter, not replying, stopped so short 
that Belle nearly fell over her. 

“ What’s that?” she asked. 

There was a movement near the fence beside the 
public highway. A figure, dim and shadowy, 
faded into the darkness. There was a crunching 
of shoes on the frozen grass. 

304 


THE BIRD AND ANIMAL HOUSE 


Jim/^ called Rebecca. Jim, we want the auto.^^ 

** Where is he ? asked Winifred pausing. “ Do 
you see him ? ” 

Jim,'^ called Rebecca raising her voice. “ Why, 
he was here — we passed him. There was a man — 
I'm sure it was Jim." 

Jim," came from four throats at once, but no 
reply was forthcoming. 

It couldn't have been Jim," declared Winifred 
running on again. 

It was," averred Rebecca. He passed right 
back of us. Didn't he. Belle ? " 

I was talking," said Belle vaguely. And I 
never can do two things at once. I heard some 
one, but I didn't see distinctly." 

Don't get to ‘ seein' things at night,' " admon- 
ished Clara. We have enough on our hands 
without watching you ! " 

Winifred had reached Mrs. Breiman's door and 
was rapping smartly. When Mrs. Breiman heard 
her inquiry she shook her head and also raised her 
voice in a sharp call of Jim." 

No reply. 

“ It beats all," she remarked to the group hud- 
dling on her door-step. He left the house only 
a minute ago. Mebby he has got as far as the 
barn, but I doubt it. The gray horse is ailing to- 
night, and some of the men have him in the long 

305 


A SENIOR CO-ED 

shed. You’ll find ’im there, likely. They’re ex- 
ercisin’ ’im.” 

Whether she meant the horse or Jim, the girls 
did not stop to inquire. They turned toward the 
barn followed by Mrs. Breiman still talking. 

D’ye know, Jim is awfully bothered over the 
stealin’ of them Orps. He lays it t’ heart, some- 
how. Don’t eat half what a man should, and 
moons around all sorts.” 

“ Why should he when he doesn’t have the care 
of them at all ? ” asked Belle wonderingly. “ It’s 
Miss Lowe who should ' moon around,’ and she 
certainly doesn’t eat enough to keep a mosquito in 
good biting order ! ” 

They’re an awful loss,” Mrs. Breiman contin- 
ued, “ and Jim he sees it. He says Carter’ll be up 
and cornin’ about it, but for my part I can’t see 
how a man worth as much as Carter is should make 
a fuss over a passel of hens. Leghorns is good 
enough for me, anyhow. They lay more eggs, if 
they don’t sell for a big price.” 

The “ chores ” were finished, and the lights 
were turned out in the cow barn. But the horse 
barn was lighted as was also the long shed behind 
the barn. The girls passed through the stable, in 
front of a vacant stall and out into the shed where 
the gray horse, blanketed, was being led slowly 
back and forth. 


306 


THE BIRD AND ANIMAL HOUSE 


The shed was a long low affair with one end 
against the horse barn and the opening at the other 
end choked by a dense growth of dwarf hemlocks. 
Beyond was a wide meadow. The shed had been 
used for sheep until the sheep house was built. 
Now it was unused. Mr. Carter intended to tear 
it down in the spring. 

“ Jim has been around here all the time until 
dark,” said one of the men in answer to Winifred’s 
question. He started toward the end of the shed. 

He was fussing ’round out here the last time I 
noticed ’im.” 

The man motioned toward the open end of the 
shed toward which he strode. Winifred fol- 
lowed. Slipping out beside the tangle of hem- 
locks he stopped and again the name of Jim 
smote the frosty air, this time in a stentorian 
voice which produced no better results than the 
former calls. 

The man returned to the gray horse and began 
rubbing the creature’s sides. Better get this car 
that’s cornin’,” he said briefly. Jim’s vamoosed. 
He’s all wrought up over the loss of the hens, any- 
way. Don’t half know what he’s about.” 

The trolley wires below the house began to purr 
and then to hum as the girls sped back along the 
gravel walk. Circling the house, they hurried 
down the road and tumbled breathlessly aboard 

307 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


the empty car just as the motorman was waiting 
for the signal to start back to the city. 

My heart beats I announced Lillian pressing 
her hand over that too active member. She spoke 
in an exhausted voice. 

That's encouraging," returned Rebecca calmly. 

I’m glad to hear that it does. I hope we’ll not 
be obliged to call on a physician along with our 
other calls.’’ 

Lillian giggled, leaping, without dijSiculty, from 
hearts to hats. “ Girls, we look abominably di- 
sheveled. Before any one else gets on, let’s 
straighten up.’’ 

Winifred, in the end of the seat, was the only 
one who did not ^‘straighten up.’’ The others 
chattered and talked over the absorbing events of 
the day, or demanded to know whether they looked 
well now. Winifred closed her eyes and thought. 
To the others the theft of the Orpingtons did not 
possess the personal vital interest it held for the 
“ hen huzzy.’’ 

“ I am responsible,’’ she thought for the hun- 
dredth time. “ Mr. Carter trusted me, and I have 
failed him.’’ 

Presently the conductor opened the rear door, 
and confidently rang up seven fares before coming 
forward with extended hand and the demand on 
his lips, “ Fares, please.’’ 

308 


THE BIRD AND ANIMAL HOUSE 


“ Girls ! ’’ cried Lillian’s horrified voice, who 
has any money ? ” 

No one had. Coats without pockets, dresses 
without pockets, and hand-bags at home. 

Oh, Mr. Conductor,” pleaded Lillian, “ please 
don’t put us off. We expected to come in Mr. 
Carter’s auto, but Jim was not there and we ran 
for the car. In the auto, as you see, we didn’t 
need any money, and we — we never thought. 
Can’t you trust us ? ” 

The conductor frowned darkly. “ There’s the 
fares all rung up, miss, and I got to make good on 
’em.” 

Un-ring them,” suggested Lillian hopefully. 

The conductor stood firm. “ I can’t. Must 
have the fares or you get off. That’s the rule.” 
His tone wavered, however, as he had seen his 
present passengers an endless number of times. 

Finally, on their promise that the next morning 
when he arrived at the Cartersville end of the route 
at eight o’clock, the money would be forthcoming, 
he allowed them to remain on the car. 

'' But how are we to get back?” Rebecca whis- 
pered. 

The inquiry was sent down the line of girls. 
When it came to Winifred she sent the reassuring 
answer back, '' Borrow of Newsy.” 

At the Fifth Street crossing the girls left the car 

309 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


and found Newsy swinging his arms and boxing 
his ears in an endeavor to keep warm. 

“ I thought you’d never git here I ” he greeted 
them. 

‘‘ We couldn’t find Jim, so we had ” 

Didn’t I tell you,” demanded Newsy turning 
to Winifred, not to tell Jim nor come in the 
auto I ” 

You must be mistaken, John,” Winifred was 
beginning, and then bethought her of the boy’s 
uncompleted message. Was that what you were 
saying when Central shut you off? But as it hap- 
pens we didn’t see Jim, so But why not tell 

him ? ” she broke off to ask. 

Newsy, who was leading the way down the street, 
shook his head mysteriously. “ Aw — I hain’t got 
no use fer Jim, and I bet ye Mr. Carter won’t have 
neither after this.” 

Before Winifred could speak. Belle, walking be- 
hind them, addressed Newsy. How did you 
come to fetch us on this wild-goose chase, John- 
nie?” 

Don’t you remember that they was an ad in 
the Evenin’ News to sell two Orps a little while 
ago ? ” he began. 

“I do,” replied Winifred quickly. 

Well, instid of goin’ up t’ the Hill I went t’ 
the office and got the old papers and found that 
310 


THE BIRD AND ANIMAL HOUSE 


ad and seen it was from this Bird ’n^ Animal 
House. So I come down here and went in and 
tried to sell ’em papers. Of course it wa’n’t my 
beat and they had got papers off ’n another feller, 
but I used my eyes and sure ’nuff, here’s two of 
our Orps.” He halted. ‘‘ This is the place.” 

“ John,” said M. Gussie solemnly, you’re a 
genius. You’re a real detective.” 

Newsy swelled with pride, but made no reply 
except the businesslike direction, Now you go 
in and look and I’ll be hangin’ ’round the drug 
store here. The Orps is ’way in the back of the 
store.” 

Unceremoniously he skipped into the warmth 
of the drug store leaving the girls on the pave- 
ment in front of the Bird and Animal House. 
They looked at each other blankly. 

What are we to do ? ” asked Clara. “ Will 
the hens wear placards announcing that they are 
stolen ? ” 

Winifred looked in at the window considering. 
'' Girls, we’ll go in and you appear interested in 
things generally while I look for the hens.” 

It was not necessary to force interest. The mo- 
ment that Lillian, who was in advance, opened 
the door, she exclaimed over a litter of puppies 
just inside. The next moment all the girls except 
Winifred had gathered around the puppies and 
3n 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


were caressing them under the watchful eyes of 
an anaemic-looking clerk. Winifred passed slowly 
down the room looking at the canaries, the parrots, 
the fowls, kittens, ferrets, but with eyes that saw 
only the fowls. 

The proprietor, a dignified man with gray hair, 
sat behind his desk writing in a large ledger. A 
young girl, who resembled him, approached Wini- 
fred courteously. 

“ Anything I can do for you, ma'am ? " 

Winifred considered. “ I should like to see some 
Orpingtons. Have you any of the pure blooded ? " 

“ We received two only this morning," answered 
the girl in a clear voice. 

The anaemic clerk looked quickly over his 
shoulder. The girl led the way to the rear of 
the store, where, in a crate, sat two pure white 
Orpingtons with their heads tucked beneath their 
wings. The girl opened the crate and raised the 
sleepy, dazed hens in turn, exhibiting them. 

“ Oh, girls, aren’t they cunning ? ’’ came Lillian’s 
ecstatic voice from the other end of the store. I 
love little puppies like these — just furry squares 
with a leg let down at each corner ! ’’ 

Every one laughed, including Winifred and the 
girl. The latter’s face was so fresh and guileless 
that Winifred had not the heart even to ask her 
where the Orpingtons came from. She turned 
312 


THE BIRD AND ANIMAL HOUSE 

slowly away, and went to the door. Outside, the 
others joined her. 

Well?” asked M. Gussie whose attention had 
not been on the dogs. 

They have two Orpingtons, yes, but why 
should I suppose they are ours? I don't recog- 
nize them. They have no distinctive marks that 
I know. I could not tell one hen from another. 
They are simply the pure bloods, and they all 
look alike to me.” 

Newsy, watchful, hastened out of the drug store. 
“ That wing told they was stole, didn't it, Miss 
Lowe ? ” he asked triumphantly. 

Winifred turned a blank face on the questioner. 

What wing, Johnnie?” 

An expression of disappointment and disgust 
swept over the child's face. That's what I wanted 
you to come down for. Don't you remember that 
one of our hens had a lame wing? It dragged a 
little, don't you know ? ” 

The girls gathered around the amateur detective 
with interest, while Winifred answered humbly, 
“ No, Johnnie, I have never noticed.” 

“ And you took care of 'em all this time ? ” ac- 
cusingly. Aw — well, you're a girl ! ” 

“ Yes,” acknowledged Winifred, and a very 
helpless one here. I don't see that there's any- 
thing we can do.” 


313 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


We can take *em/^ declared Newsy in astonish- 
ment. “ If they^re ours we got a right to ^em.” 

“ The law has to do something — and the police- 
men,” returned Clara Pike vaguely. 

They were walking slowly toward the car line, 
Winifred with her head bent dejectedly. She was 
longing for Mr. Carter’s bluff and hearty presence. 

“We certainly can’t walk around here and 
shiver much longer,” said M. Gussie decisively. 
“ Let’s go home.” 

“ Oh, girls, look ! ” Lillian’s voice was low but 
joyful. “ Was there anything so lucky ? ” 

Just ahead of them, from a brightly lighted 
restaurant, came Landon Stearns, Joseph Amherst 
Pierce, Beau Brown and Sayles Cooper. Instead 
of going home for dinner, the boys had concluded 
to dine in a restaurant on Fifth Street. 

There was a confused and astonished inter- 
change of greetings and then the entire company, 
at Winifred’s suggestion, turned back to the drug 
store. Here, in a friendly and secluded corner, 
they held a consultation on the evidence vouched 
for by Newsy. 

“ I know that one hen with the draggin’ wing 
is ours,” he declared vigorously. 

“But what can be done about it?” asked the 
Beau. “ We can’t swear out a warrant on such 
evidence, can we? And who’d do the swearing? ” 
3H 


THE BIRD AND ANIMAL HOUSE 


“ Eventually the man that gets pinched 1 
promptly from Landon. 

The puppies are so dear ! murmured Lillian. 
“ And I know that girl had nothing to do with 
accepting stolen goods/^ declared Winifred. 

“ We might walk in and carry the hens off if 
we had Miss Barker's gun," suggested Joseph 
Amherst Pierce with a reminiscent grin. 

Tell you what, fellows," Landon broke out ; 
let’s go over and spy out the land and perhaps 
inspiration will seize us there." 

Lead off," commanded Joseph Amherst. 
We’ll follow." 

May luck go with you," murmured Gussie as 
the boys filed out, “ but if it does ’twill be the first 
time to-day." 

Where’s Johnnie ? " asked Winifred. 

In the forefront of the fight," sighed Belle. 
“ I vote for peace and my downy couch. I’m 
tired out." 

I’m not anxious myself for any more happen- 
ings to-night," exclaimed Rebecca. ‘‘ Girls, was 
it last night or early in September that we gave a 
Hallowe’en supper?" 

I judge it to be last night," responded Gussie ; 
‘‘not from the state of my feeelings, but solely 
because Hallowe’en never occurs in September ! " 
She leaned against the counter and looked out 
31S 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


of the window while the others in undertones 
speculated as to the happenings in the Bird and 
Animal House. 

If any one there knows that they are harbor- 
ing stolen goods I hope it will prove to be the 
clerk. His eye is so shifty.'^ Lillian spoke with 
conviction. 

I didn’t know that you saw a thing except 
those puppies — ugly little things ! ” from Clara. 

Suddenly, M. Gussie, who was still looking out 
of the window, exclaimed, “ There’s your worthy 
shover, girls. What’s he doing, standing out 
there in the cold all this time ? ” 

“Who? Jim? Where?” The others closed 
about Gussie. 

She pointed. “ I saw a man stand there — see ? 
— in that doorway, when we first came. He was 
there when we went up the street and met the 
boys. Just now he stepped forward a little into 
the light and I recognized Jim.” 

He stood in the doorway of an unlighted ware- 
house across the street, a motionless figure, and 
now an indistinct one. 

“What’s he doing?” demanded Lillian indig- 
nantly. “ Is he watching us ? ” 

The figure retreated so far within the doorway 
as to become invisible, and the reason seemed ap- 
parent in the masculine figures which, at that 
316 


THE BIRD AND ANIMAL HOUSE 


moment, appeared in front of the drug store — 
Newsy came first, his eyes big with excitement. 

'' I knew he took 'em ! I knew it all the 
time. I hain't got no use fer Jim, and never did 
have." 

Winifred looked at Landon. “ Did Jim take 
them ? " 

Landon nodded. “That's what we figure out," 
subduing his big voice with difficulty to keep it 
from the ears of the clerks. “ We put it up to the 
proprietor straight that the hens had been taken 

from Mr. Carter, and he called his clerk Say, 

boys," Landon turned to his supporters, “ I don't 
half like the looks of that shifty-eyed little clerk, 
do you ? I believe he's on to more of this business 
than he professes." 

“ But tell us," remonstrated Lillian. 

“ The proprietor called his clerk and asked him 
who brought the hens — seems they were put there 
to be sold on commission. The clerk scratched 
his head a while and then said the same man 
brought 'em who'd brought the first pair " 

“ That advertisement I " exclaimed Winifred. 

“ Didn't I tell you ? " cried Newsy dancing 
around the group. He saw no reason why his 
voice should be lowered. 

Landon went on : “ The clerk said the man's 
name was Brown, but when we asked for a 

317 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


description, he wavered and tripped on details and 
we got a pretty good description of Jim.” 

“ But the Orpingtons — didn^t you get them ? ” 
asked Lillian. 

The boys laughed. The proprietor will hold 
’em until the thing is cleared up, but, of course, 
he won’t give them up on our recommendation.” 

He says,” added Sayles Cooper, '' that they 
were brought this morning before he reached the 
store. His clerk received them.” 

Hum I ” muttered the Beau. “ That clerk ! 
Yes.” 

There had been no opportunity to mention the 
presence of Jim in the warehouse doorway, but 
Newsy’s sharp eyes spied him, as, with hat drawn 
low over his eyes, he left his retreat and crossed 
the lighted space below the building. With a sud- 
den exclamation of, “ That looks like Jim — I’m 
goin’ to see,” the boy sped out of the store and 
across the street. 

Winifred turned to Landon. Then there’s 
really nothing else that we can do — and Mr. Carter 
won’t be here until Monday ! ” 

Friday night,” counted Lillian, “ Saturday, 
Sunday, Monday. And in the meantime, where 
are the rest of the Orpingtons ? ” 

'' Echo answers where,” sighed Winifred. Her 
face was pale and troubled. 

318 


THE BIRD AND ANIMAL HOUSE 

As the party left the store Belle Eaton looked 
anxiously down the street in the direction taken 
by Newsy. No Newsy was visible. She gave a 
gasp of dismay. As they neared the car line her 
feet lagged. 

'' Hurry up, Belle,’' begged Erma. “ I do want 
to get home.” 

“ So do I,” returned Belle in an energetic under- 
tone, ^^but I don’t want to walk !” 

Walk ! ” Erma was beginning, when memory 
assailed her. Oh ! ” she exclaimed and clasped 
her hand over her mouth. In a predicament as 
usual,” she muttered, as she too turned and looked 
down the street. 

“ Girls, what are you doing back there ? ” called 
Winifred. Our car is due here in two minutes. 
We must not lose it.” 

a We’re looking for Newsy,” returned Erma. 

If you remember, we expected Newsy to ” — she 
paused suggestively and then added — “ go home 
with us.” In an undertone she turned to Belle 
with, Now, I wonder if those girls remember.” 

What shall we do?” reiterated Belle. 

Lillian was answering the question skilfully in 
the form of a gracious assent to a question from 
the Beau. Yes, I really wish you would all go 
to the end of the car line with us. So much has 
happened to-day that I’m getting nervous, and if 

319 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


the car should run off the track or things like that 
occur, it would be so comforting to have four men 
with us,” here she looked guilelessly at the girls, 
so long as Newsy has deserted us ! ” 

Belle choked, and the Twisters smiled so broadly 
that ordinarily the suspicions of the boys would 
have been aroused, but at that moment their atten- 
tion was attracted by a figure crossing the track 
just ahead of the approaching car. 

It was the figure of a man, tall with loosely hang- 
ing arms and large round eye-glasses. He was 
headed toward The Armitage, and as he passed, his 
eyes fixed on the pavement, a pleasant smile ani- 
mated his face. 

‘‘ Dr. Cregg, and still at peace with the world.” 
Landon removed his hat. “ Here^s to you, doctor, 
and may the peace be perpetual ! ” 

The tall man, unconscious of the eyes leveled 
at his back, passed into the lobby of The Armitage 
just as M. Gussie said firmly, '' He shall never look 
upon my face again ! ” 

As Landon handed a bill to the conductor with 
the command, Eleven,” that official grinned 
wordlessly into space and Lillian blushed faintly. 
Later she defended herself stoutly. 

‘‘ Well, I told the truth and nothing but the truth, 
and no one can blame me for not telling all the 
truth. I was nervous, and what’s more, I am now. 

320 


THE BIRD AND ANIMAL HOUSE 


And, beside, we had to have our fares paid and 
no one, except Winifred here, would have felt free 
to borrow the money, and she would not have 
wanted to take Landon off one side right there 
and explained, and 

Lillian, if you say ‘ and ’ again to-night I’ll 
throw a — a pillow at you ! ” interrupted Clara Pike. 
‘‘ Speaking of nerves, I acquired a few myself to- 
day ! ” 

The girls were collected in Winifred’s room for 
a few moments’ necessary discussion of the day’s 
varied events. Winifred sat beside the window. 
The light was turned out within the room. The 
barns were dark, but there was still a light in the 
long shed. The gray horse was no better. 

Girls,” Winifred began suddenly, I have been 
thinking.” 

Don’t, please,” begged Lillian. You do too 
much of that. If you think much more and eat 
much less you’ll soon become a whip-poor-will.” 

‘‘Will-o’-the-wisp, you mean,” corrected Rebecca. 

“ What I’m thinking,” Winifred continued 
slowly, is that we’ve done the worst thing possi- 
ble in the case of the Orpingtons.” 

Erma bounced up from the couch in indignation. 
“ And you say that after the racking experiences 
of this day ! ” 

“ Listen,” said Winifred. “ If Jim did steal the 
321 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


hens, and those two in the Bird House are ours, 
then by going there and making a fuss about it 
we have warned him so that he will not take any 
more there to be sold. He’ll take them away 
where Mr. Carter can’t get hold of them. If we 
had stayed away, when Mr. Carter came he could 
have ” 

Sh ! ” from Belle. There’s Johnnie now.” 
She opened the door a crack as Newsy came up 
the stairs, and asked, Did you catch Jim ? ” 

“ Naw.” Newsy’s tone sounded despondent. 

I couldn’t find ’im. He’d gone.” 

Belle closed the door. It’s my private opinion, 
publicly expressed, that Jim has gone — and gone 
for good I ” 


322 


CHAPTER XX 


IN THE LONG SHED 

The following morning Winifred slept later than 
usual and the others were careful not to awaken 
her. 

“ LePs eat in the kitchen/^ Belle suggested. 

The dining-room is under her room, you know.^^ 

“ Let’s I ” assented Lillian. Poor Freda I She 
is always loaded with cares. That comes of not 
having an allowance every month — even if it is 
wholly inadequate,” she hastened to add with a 
sigh. 

And directly after we eat, let’s learn the fate of 
the gray horse — and Jim,” added Rebecca. 

Johnnie will tell us,” rejoined Erma with a 
yawn. She spoke to the cook : “ Where is 
Johnnie ? ” 

“ He has eaten and gone.” The cook turned a 
large flapjack with a thud. 

Where?” 

I don’t know. He didn’t say. He said to tell 
you girls not to touch the heater, as he’d be back 
in two or three hours and attend to it himself.” 

After breakfast the girls departed to the horse 

323 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


barn by way of the wood-shed, M. Gussie having 
forgotten her repugnance to the latter place. In 
its stall they found the gray horse standing warmly 
blanketed, his head drooping, but announcing that 
he was on the road to recovery by slowly munch- 
ing oats. The temporary manager of Mr. Carter’s 
four hundred acres sat on the feed box dozing. He 
had been up all night. The light in front of the 
horse was still burning. 

“ There was a time last night,” said the man 
arousing himself, when I thought the animal 
would never eat again. He’s had a pretty tough 
time of it.” He yawned and turned out the light. 
‘‘ Best work horse on the place, too. Guess Mr. 
Garter’d throw a fit if Billy here had gone.” He 
reached over and patted the horse’s head. When 
do you expect Carter ? ” 

“ Monday night,” replied Rebecca. She too 
rubbed the gray face, damp yet from the sweat of 
pain. Poor old horsey, did you suffer all night ? ” 

“ He certainly did,” responded the manager. 
“ Breiman and I was up with him, and we had a 
vet. here twice. We’ve just brought ’im in from 
the long shed. Had to have room for him to thrash 
around and, then, he had to be walked a sight.” 

“ But he is getting well,” said Lillian in a satis- 
fied voice. Here’s good news number one for 

Freda. Now for ” She interrupted herself 

324 


IN THE LONG SHED 


to ask, “ Have you seen anything of Jim this 
morning ? 

The man shook his head. ^^No, I haven't. 
Have been right here, you see, and no one has 
been in." 

I believe that your ‘ news number one * will be 
all the good news we can carry to Winifred," said 
Belle thoughtfully as they went slowly in the 
direction of the Breimans'. I have a quantity of 
doubts about Jim." 

Mrs. Breiman was clearing the breakfast table 
when they entered the kitchen. She was also com- 
plaining about the delay in her day's work. 

Set right down, girls. I'm dreadfully behind 
in my work. My husband just got here to eat. 
Been up with the gray horse all night, and that 
lazy Jim hasn't got down yet." 

She paused for breath, and Belle hastened to fill 
the gap. '' We came to ask if Jim is here." 

Did you ? Well, he's up-stairs yet. He come 
in last night. I heard 'im just as I was going to 
sleep." 

She stepped to the back stairs and called him. 
There was no reply. She called again. No reply. 

Now, he must have heard that," she scolded, 
toiling up the stairs. '' I yelled loud enough to wake 
up Breiman, and he's the soundest sleeper I ever 
heard of." 


325 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


Her voice trailed away indistinctly into the up- 
per regions, from whence, presently, came the 
sounds attendant on the pounding and banging on 
a door. Then these sounds ceased, and after a 
moment of silence, Mrs. Breiman’s agitated voice 
was heard at the head of the stairs. 

“ Girls, come here. See fer yourselves ! 

They saw for themselves, looking into Jim's 
room as Mrs. Breiman held the door open trag- 
ically. The bed had not been slept in. Bureau 
drawers were pulled out and their contents gone. 
A trunk stood open empty. Everything was 
turned topsy-turvy. The window, which opened 
on the roof of the porch, was open. 

“ Now what does this mean ? " demanded Mrs. 
Breiman tearfully. “ He's gone to cheat me out 
of board. He owed me for three weeks." She 
applied her apron to her eyes. 

'' Bag and baggage and boy ! " muttered Belle to 
Rebecca. 

And the valuable hens," was the return mutter. 

We certainly did do about as indiscreet a thing 
as we could in having the boys overhaul the Bird 
House. Oh, dear ! " 

But, Mrs. Breiman," Gussie was saying to the 
distressed landlady, “ probably Mr. Carter owes 
Jim more than that, and if so, he will hand the 
wages over to you for the board." 

326 


IN THE LONG SHED 

Mrs. Breiman’s apron fell away from her eyes. 

Bless you I I never thought of that I Of course 
he would. Moses Carter is awful particular and as 
queer as they make ’em, but he’s fair.” 

She looked hopefully over the room. But 
what possessed him to up and run off between two 
days ? ” 

Time will tell,” replied Belle as the girls de- 
parted. 

''News number two will be bad,” mourned 
Lillian on the way back to the Two-Faced House. 
" I wonder where he has the Orps hidden and how 
he is going to get them away.” 

" He’s hid ’em in the city somewhere, of course,” 
said Belle with an air of superiority. " If we 
could get hold of that shifty-eyed clerk I believe 
we would find out all about it.” 

Winifred was eating breakfast, or making a 
pretense of eating, when news number one and two 
reached her. *" I hope Mr. Carter does owe Jim 
enough to settle the board bill,” was her first 
comment. Her second was, " Why didn’t we wait 
for Mr. Carter instead of telling the Bird and 
Animal people that the hens were stolen? ” 

" We used to do things right in the chapter 
house,” sighed Lillian, " but ever since we came to 
this dear old Two-Faced House, we are possessed to 
work backward ! ” 


327 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


Shortly after nine the seven gathered about the 
radiator in the living-room attempting to coax 
some warmth into their cold hands. Newsy had 
not yet appeared. 

Girls/^ Erma burst out finally, can we ever 
get down to grinding again? I haven^t touched 
my thesis this week, and I’m due Monday in a 
conference on the week’s work. What shall I 
do?” 

“ Go up to the library with your note-book,” 
advised Rebecca. 

Erma, chancing at that instant to bump her head 
against the wall telephone, turned to it thought- 
fully. “ I don’t seem to want to get out of reach 
of this thing. I might miss ” 

The jangling of the bell ended her speech. She 
took down the receiver, and an indistinct but 
booming voice reached every corner of the room. 

Oh ! ” cried Erma joyfully. Mr. Carter ! — 

at the station — I’m so glad Yes, I’ll send 

him Why — oh — wait a moment.” 

She covered the transmitter with her hand and 
looked helplessly at Winifred. They concluded 
to come home instead of visiting. He says send 
Jim.” 

“ Tell him the truth,” urged Winifred. He 
might as well know right now.” 

Erma reluctantly uncovered the transmitter. 

328 



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IN THE LONG SHED 


Mr. Carter, Jim ran away last night — yes, he has 

gone bag and baggage and ” Here her tone 

became more animated. “ Wait I There^s a car 
due here in three minutes. Ill get it and stop at 
the station and help you with the baggage and — 
and tell you things.’^ 

She hung up the receiver and was put into her 
wraps by willing hands. “ Tell him Winifred 
didnl have a thing to do with the loss of those 
horrid hens,^^ admonished Lillian jamming Erma’s 
hat on over one ear and jabbing her head with the 
hat pin. Here’s your gloves and here’s your 
hand-bag.” As the traveler was hurrying to the 
car, Gussie’s voice reached her. Don’t forget to 
pay the conductor our fares for last night ! ” 

Half an hour later there was a tramp of feet on 
the piazza, the living-room door was thrown open 
and a bluff hearty presence permeated the room. 
The Carters had returned from their wedding 
journey. 

Wall, Sairy Mary, I give up that it is sort of 
nice to get home after all,” boomed Moses. 

Now, see here, young lady,” he seized Wini- 
fred’s hand and used it as a pump handle until it 
ached, ^^no more nonsense about them hens. 
No more chills and fever for you. The very idee ! 
Did you steal ’em? Wall, then, what are ye 
lookin’ peaked and white over it for ? What if 

329 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


they was under your care ! Gosh ! You don^t 
suppose I’ve never lost anything myself, do ye, 
when it was under my care ? Now what about 
them two Orpingtons that she says must have 
been stolen before ? ” jerking a finger toward Erma. 

Didn’t stop t’ think, did ye, that they was taken 
when I was on the job? Course they was, and I 
never found it out. I say any man that owns 
four hundred acres and blooded stock regardless 
has got t’ stand some loss.” 

Sarah Mary, her bonnet firmly planted on her 
head hindside-before, the front of her skirt held up 
with one hand, her face placid and non-committal, 
set the bird cage on the table, kissed the girls 
heartily all the way around, sank into her own 
Boston rocker as though never intending to be 
separated from it again, and allowed the girls to 
remove her wraps. The conversational fioor she 
left entirely to Moses. 

He occupied it with feet spread far apart, his 
face very red and exceedingly jolly, his tie new 
and lurid, his hat hanging desperately to the back 
of his head. But he had brought with him an 
atmosphere of security. Winifred leaned back 
smilingly listening. She had not realized before 
how much responsibility she had been carrying. 
The world seemed suddenly steeped in sunshine. 

“ Say I ” Moses vociferated, we’ve had the time 
330 


IN THE LONG SHED 


of our lives, Sairy and I. I started out of this 
place jest ten days ago with four hundred dollars. 
Where d^ye suppose it is now?^^ He stood joy- 
fully in the middle of the room, slapping his 
pockets. Four hundred dollars in ten days, and 
we wasn’t in on the ground floor neither.’’ Again 
he slapped each pocket in turn, booming the chal- 
lenge, Four hundred dollars. Where d’ye think 
it is, eh ? ” 

His guests formed an amused and admiring 
circle around him. It’s left down in New York, 
of course,” they replied as one. 

You bet your life it is ! ” howled Moses. When 
we got out in the Grand Central depot down there, 
I got one of them fool carts with the driver settin’ 
up behind yer shoulders, and I told ’im to take us 
around t’ that little old boardin’-house on Fifth 
Avenue and Thirty-fourth Street. He grinned. 
Thought I was joshin’. Guess he grinned all the 
way there. Grin can’t have come clear off* by this 
time. But when I got out my wad t’ pay him, 
say ! the grin sort of settled into creases.” 

Moses slapped his pockets again. Nice little 
hotel that,” patronizingly ; '' good enough for me 
any time. I made ’em step around lively, but 
then there wa’n’t no kickin’. I paid ’em for it. 
Guess Sairy Mary and Druisy was fairly com- 
fortable.” 


331 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


Mrs. Carter did not contradict him. She al- 
lowed her coat to be drawn from under her. Then 
she removed all of her hairpins save one, and 
settled herself in the Boston rocker with the air of 
becoming a part of it after years of separation. 
She looked around the room lingeringly. Her 
gaze came to rest on the kitchen door. 

Did Mis’ Pe-ters finish makin’ the sau-sage?” 
was her first question. New York and the hos- 
telry on Fifth Avenue were relegated to a disa- 
greeable past. 

“ Of course, that boy is in the city with his 
pa-pers,” she was continuing, when a racket in the 
wood-house proved to the contrary. 

Flinging wide the doors and not stopping to 
close them, came Newsy. He was minus a cap. 
It lay in the middle of the wheat-field beyond the 
long shed. His overcoat was missing. It was 
fiapping on the barbed wire fence which sur- 
rounded the field. It had been easier to squirm 
out of it than to disentangle it. The marks of the 
barbs were on his hands. The seat of his trousers 
was in tatters. He did not see Mrs. Carter nor the 
girls, although his eyes seemed large enough to 
have observed a dozen such groups. He advanced 
precipitately on the master of the house with the 
ear-splitting announcement : 

^‘I jest run Jim ofif’n the premises. It’s awful 
332 


IN THE LONG SHED 

queer what he done. Tryin^ steal corn now. 
I put a stop to that all right I ” 

“Why, Johnnie Wilmot I ” 

“ Where is he ? 

“John, you’re a hustler ! ” enthusiastically from 
Lillian. 

Moses arose with alacrity, but Newsy swaggered 
up to the radiator and held his purple hands in 
the heat. 

“ No use your hurryin V’ he threw off carelessly ; 
“I got Breiman t’ watchin’ for ’im. He owes Brei- 
man for board, so I was sure Jim ’ud be well 
watched,” with a boyish giggle. 

Moses turned and viewed the diminutive figure 
of the “ hustler ” with admiration. “ Wall, wall, 
you are one I ” he observed. “ Where in Sam Hill 
did you find him ? ” 

“I had a hunch that he’d be hangin’ ’round 
to-day out of sight, seein’ that you wa’n’t back — 
that is, he don’t know ye are, and I got up early 
this mornin’ to kinda snoop around and see if I 
couldn’t run acrost something or other.” 

Mr. Carter grinned. “ And Jim was the some- 
thing, eh ? ” 

“ Yep. I was a-goin’ ’round the barns after the 
men had all gone over inf the corn-field to bring 
in the stalks ’n’ I heard some one in the long 
shed. I took a sneak in there, and there was Jim 
333 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


I 


with a bag of corn on his shoulder. When he 
seen me he dropped the bag and took to his heels 
and I after hm.” 

Newsy looked ruefully down at his clothes. 

Don’t know why I chased ’im. Didn’t think, 
but I done it, and he made a mighty quick get- 
away over t’ the woods. But I waited ’til Breiman 
come back and I set ’im watchin’ the long shed 
while I come up here. I seen ye cornin’ while I 
was watchin’. I tell ye, I was awful glad to 
see ye I ” 

Johnnie I ” commanded Mrs. Carter suddenl3q 
“ come here.” 

The next moment the embryo detective was 
folded in a pair of warm motherly arms, and his 
thin little face was pressed against a motherly 
shoulder. Johnnie,” she said with conviction, 
“ if your report card was here now I’d put hun- 
dred marks all over it ! Now go on with your 
sto-ry.” 

I thought all the time that Jim he took the 
Orps,” continued Newsy, his sharp little face 
flushed and softened. “ But say ! he ain’t as smart 
as he thinks he is I Aw, I hain’t got no use fer 
such a sneak thief! Miss Lowe, didn’t you think 
nothin’ at all when he come in yesterday mornin’ 
in his every-day togs and told you he’d been out 
to a dance all night and jest got in ? ” 

334 


IN THE LONG SHED 


No, John,’^ confessed Winifred humbly, “I 
didn’t notice what he had on.” 

‘‘And when,” Newsy went on, setting his feet 
wide apart and stuffing his hands into his pockets, 
“ when I gotta thinkin’ about it, it was awful 
funny that he didn’t go himself ’n’ look inf the 
hen-house before he come f you, if he was s’ anx- 
ious about ’em as he said he was.” 

“ The detective system is soaring in my estima- 
tion,” interrupted Lillian solemnly. 

“An’ then,” the youthful detective continued, 
“ I seen that the thief must ’a’ had a key to git in 
with, jest like yours,” looking at Winifred, “and I 
knew Jim he had the key a lot when Mis’ Breiman 
fed ’em. He could ’a’ made another.” 

Moses nodded. He was getting into his over- 
coat again. “ Exactly. That’s what he probably 
did, and then waited until the coast seemed pretty 
clear and safe for a scoop of the whole flock. Now 
I’ll go out and look things over.” 

He started, followed by the girls. Newsy, also, 
despite Mrs. Carter’s commands to stay and warm 
his fro-zen self, and answer her questions, was at 
his heels. But there was nothing to look over save 
the shed, the sack of grain, on which sat Breiman 
whittling a stick, and the cold trail of the thief in 
line with Newsy’s coat flapping from the top of the 
barbed wire fence. 


335 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


Mr. Carter whistled, pushed out past the hem- 
lock thicket and looked across the fields to the 
woods beyond. Breiman, what d’ye think ? 
Hain’t Jim got them fowls hid over there? If he 
hain’t why in tunket was he cartin’ that corn 
away ? He wa’n’t trying to steal half a bushel of 
corn for no other purpose.” Conviction grew 
stronger. That’s the size of it. More I think it 
over, surer I git. The Orpingtons are over in them 
woods, and Jim is try in’ to feed ’em. Hum ! ” 

The lines in Mr. Carter’s forehead converged into 
a deep question mark and then smoothed them- 
selves out. He nodded several times, took off his 
hat and scratched his head. 

Breiman joined him. “ Guess you’re right. It 
looks reasonable enough.” 

Moses slapped his hat on the back of his head 
again. He spoke energetically. ‘‘ Get two of the 
men, will you ? And go over and beat up them 
woods for all you’re worth ! Don’t let a partridge, 
even, get past. Nab Jim if you can. I should like 
t’ meet up with Jim a few minutes. Bet I’d know 
where the Orpingtons are ! ” 

He rubbed his big hands together refiectively, 
and then slowly retraced his steps to the barns. 
Newsy deserted him, going with the hired man. 
The girls followed their host, Winifred turning 
back longingly to gaze at the forest which stretched 
33b 


IN THE LONG SHED 


over an adjoining hill and out of sight. Slowly 
they made the rounds of the premises. Winifred 
unlocked the hen-house door and the owner exam- 
ined the lock. His sharp gaze penetrated every 
nook and corner, but no clue as to the whereabouts 
of the hens appeared. 

Mr. Carter stood in front of the hen-house door 
a moment thinking and whistling. Then he 
pulled his hat over his forehead and started toward 
the house saying cheerfully, Guess I'll go into 
the city now and take a turn around that Bird and 
Animal House. Mebby something new’ll turn up 
there.^^ 

But he did not get as far as the Bird and Animal 
House. He got only as far as his own living-room 
where sat a tall, thin man looking out on the world 
through round glasses. He still looked as though 
the world was a goodly place in which to live. 

“ Set down and make your-self at home,” invited 
Mrs. Carter hospitably. “ No use calling Moses. 
He’ll be in when he has fin-ished looking for the 
hens that was sto-len.” 

Here a reminiscent smile lighted her guest’s 
face. 

'' Haven’t those Orpingtons been found yet ? ” he 
asked. 

Mrs. Carter ceased to creak her Boston rocker 
long enough to look at him in sharp suspicion. 

337 


A SENIOR CO-ED 

“What did you say your name was? I didn’t 
get it.” 

“ Cregg, William Cregg.” 

The rocker creaked again. The occupant’s face 
folded up. “ Then you’re the man them crazy 
girls shut up in the wood-shed yesterday ? ” 

Dr. Gregg’s smile became a broad grin. “ I’m 
the man. They had an idea that they had caught 
the thief.” 

Mrs. Carter shook until her knot of hair slipped 
over her right ear. “ They feel all used up over 
that,” she continued, “ be-cause they seem to think 
you must feel in-suited.” 

“ Insulted ! ” exclaimed Dr. Cregg. “ If those 
blessed girls only knew ” he paused and red- 

dened. 

“ I told ’em,” continued Mrs. Carter, “ that if you 
had a mite of common sense the cra-zy goings-on 
of a passel of girls wouldn’t upset you long ! ” 

“ I shall take the opportunity some time to 
thank those girls for what they did I ” exclaimed 
Dr. Cregg in so ringing a voice that its sound pene- 
trated to the kitchen and the returning searchers. 

Luckily the master of the house was in advance 
of the girls. They stopped in the kitchen to gather 
round the red hot range a moment and there 
they heard the voice which they all recognized. 

“ Mercy on us I ” muttered M. Gussie. She 
338 


IN THE LONG SHED 


backed up so precipitately that her heel struck 
the wood-box and she sat down on its contents at 
some distance below the edge of the box. Here 
she stuck doubled up like a jack-knife, while the 
others tiptoed with elaborate caution and much 
soft creaking of floor boards into the dining-room 
and listened. Mr. Carter was already greeting 
Dr. Cregg. 

Lillian was the first to return. She forgot to 
tiptoe, and almost forgot to lower her voice as she 
appeared before the struggling Gussie. 

Gussie, it is ! It is Dr. Cregg I she explained. 

What do you suppose he^s here for? Can he — 
arrest us for what we did last night ? anxiously. 

Gussie's only response was an agonized '' Pull 
me out of this — do ! He'll never get a squint at 
me ! " 

A subdued chorus of giggles reached the living- 
room and then the kitchen door was closed and 
Gussie was jerked out of the wood-box. 

'' If Dr. X. Y. Z. could have seen you, Gussie, 
he would forgive you the wood-shed episode," de- 
clared Clara. '' What is he here for, anyway ? " 
Why didn't you stay in the dining-room and 
listen until you found out ? " demanded Gussie. 
Eavesdropping I Not fair." 

Gussie shrugged her shoulders. ^ All's fair in 
love and war,' " she responded briefly. And he's 
339 


A SENIOR CO-ED 

in love and we^re engaged in warfare with a venge- 
ance.’^ 

Girls,” suggested Winifred, while the learned 
doctor is in there, let’s go out to the barns and 
look around again. Suppose the hens were 
hidden nearer than the woods. I want to look 
under things,” vaguely. 

“ Anything to pass away the time until we can 
get up-stairs without being discovered,” asserted 
Rebecca. “ But I don’t see as there’s anything hid- 
den that was not revealed by Mr. Carter himself.” 

The others agreed with Rebecca, but as the spirit 
of unrest and suspense possessed them they de- 
parted for the barns. They climbed into the hay- 
mows and poked about the straw stacks. They 
looked into silos and investigated basements until 
at last they reached the deserted long shed. Here 
they stopped and rested, sitting in a row on one 
of the foundation beams of the shed. 

The wind whistled through the cracks and 
drove stray flakes of snow against the boards. 
The tops of the hemlock shrubs at the further end 
bowed before the gusts. The door leading into the 
horse barn rattled loosely against its hinges and 
finally swung lazily open. 

Lillian,” accused Belle, ‘‘ you came through 
that door last. You left it unlatched.” 

Lillian shrugged her shoulders and edged closer 
340 


IN THE LONG SHED 


to Rebecca. But you^re nearest the door now, 
therefore, it’s your duty to close it.” 

The door swung half shut and there rested, just 
as a hearty voice was upraised within the barn. 

Everything is as good as I could make it, tell 
you that I When a man has to plan for four hun- 
dred acres and seven hired men, he’s got to be up 
early in the mornin’ with both eyes wide open 
and willin’ to take in all the latest improvements. 
I’ve about made up my mind to put a milkin’ 
machine in t’ other barn and see how it will work. 
It’s my notion that hands are more to the cows’ 
likin’ than any vacuum business a-fussin’ ’round 
’em, but if any dairy man in the state can work a 
machine, why, Moses Carter can, too. I won’t 
give the front seat to any man when it comes to 
farmin’ and everything connected with it. Now, 
these stables and box stalls I want that you should 
notice.” 

“ I’ve been noticing them,” replied Dr. Gregg’s 
deep, pleasant voice which galvanized the paralyzed 
girls in immediate action. 

That door may swing back any minute,” came 
from Clara in an agonized whisper. 

Girls, quick. He shall never look upon my 
face I ” M. Gussie arose and flung out both arms 
as tragically as she could considering the cut of her 
coat sleeves. 


341 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


They all arose, silently laughing, and faced the 
open end of the shed, but shrank back as the wind 
howled about the place with renewed vigor, slap- 
ping the hemlocks and whistling through the 
cracks. The barn door closed with a bang and 
latched itself. 

Erma drew a long breath of relief. “ They 
won’t come out here. There’s nothing here to 
see,” she was beginning when Mr. Carter’s voice 
threw them into a panic. 

I used to keep sheep out here in this ” 

The voice was approaching and the seven fled. 
They fled by way of the hemlock shrubs, six going 
around the bushes and finding a refuge on the 
other side. M. Gussie was the seventh. She could 
not wait for Lillian, who was just ahead, to squeeze 
past the outlying shrub. The men were at the 
barn door, and in an instant she had stooped low, 
and plunged headlong through a low opening in 
the hedge-like growth. The men had a glimpse 
of a dark green coat, the hem of a green skirt and 
a pair of tan shoes. Then the branches closed be- 
hind the'combination, and, to the whistle and sough 
of the blast, was added the rending and cracking 
of boards, a shrill scream, a heavy thud and then 
such a cackling and cawing and ca-dooing that all 
other sounds were eclipsed. 


342 


CHAPTER XXI 


OH, HUNTINGDON, FOE THEE ’’ 

Bless my soul ! '' cried Mr. Carter. If one 
of them girls hainT gone and fell into that old 
basement I Did you ever ! Shoo fly now I I do 
hope she ainT killed. Why — why ’’ 

Not knowing what he was saying, he forced his 
way through the hemlocks, and, followed by Dr. 
Cregg, stood on the edge of the basement which 
once had formed the foundation of a small barn, 
and looked down through an aperture in the 
rotten planks that had for years covered the base- 
ment. 

Which one are ye?^^ asked Mr. Carter, “and 
are you killed ? 

“ No, Pm not,^’ snapped Gussie, raising her voice 
above the din of frightened cackles, “ and neither 
are the Orpingtons.’^ 

“Girls, what has happened?” wailed Lillian, 
striving to make a way for herself through the 
thicket on the other side. 

“Where are you, Gussie?” asked Clara Pike 
343 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


frantically. You sound as though you were 
down below somewhere 1 ’’ 

What’s all that noise about ? Where does it 
come from ? ” asked Belle, running back and forth 
helplessly trying to look through the hedge. 

“ What has happened? ” 

The Orpingtons are found ! ” cried Winifred 
running around to the shed. Where ? How ? 
Gussie, answer ! ” her voice shrilled in her excite- 
ment. 

Meantime, Dr. Cregg, losing no time and saying 
nothing, had laid hold of the rotten planks and 
was throwing them back until he could see Gussie . 
through a respectably large opening in the cover 
of the foundation. Gussie had landed on her feet, 
scattering the sleep-sodden fowls in every direction. 
She held her skirts high, and viewed one of her 
tan shoes in disgust. 

“ Eggs,” she said distastefully. Eggs, all over. 

I fell into one I ” 

“ Eggs 1 ” shouted Moses. Eggs I Eureka ! ”J 

He dropped agilely into the basement, picked 
Gussie up and handed her unceremoniously to Dr. 
Cregg, whose long arms did valiant service, and 
Gussie stood laughing, blushing, disgusted with 
herself, delighted at the discovery of the hens, 
and shaken out of her usual calm. 

That,” mentioned Moses, is the Barker girl.” 

344 


HUNTINGDON, FOR THEE'' 


Dr. Cregg ceremoniously removed his hat. He 
looked attentively at M. Gussie, and M. Gussie, 
perforce, returned the gaze. 

“ I have met Miss Barker before,’’ said Dr. Cregg 
adding as he looked about on the agitated group 
huddled now inside the hedge, In fact I have had 
the pleasure of meeting all these young ladies.” 

The young ladies blushed, bowed, and then meet- 
ing Dr. Gregg’s eyes twinkling merrily behind his 
big glasses, laughed in a half-hearted way, Lillian, 
as usual, coming unceremoniously to the relief of 
the situation. 

She leaned over and looked down with awe on 
Mr. Carter’s head. Snakes I ” she said solemnly. 

I can almost see snakes I ” 

The laughter, this time, was whole hearted. 

I’ll go down and investigate,” exclaimed Dr. 
Cregg lightly vaulting into the basement. 

“ Six eggs,” announced Mr. Carter joyfully. 

Six ! Think of it I And down here in the dark 

without water nor much Say ! Here was 

where Jim was taking the corn to. Sure I Well, 
the boy had sort of a kind heart to feed ’em, but 
why didn’t he take ’em away ? ” 

Winifred knelt on the rim of the hole and 
looked down. '' He couldn’t, Mr. Carter. There 
were men here all night with the gray horse — in 
the long shed, you know.” 

345 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


But Moses, engrossed by his delighted scrutiny 
of the eggs in hands, scarcely heard her. Guess 
IVe pampered them hens too much,^^ he declared. 

Most folks need a few hardships to bring out 
their good points, and I shouldn’t be surprised if 
hens is like folks. Did ye ever ! Six eggs I After 
this I’ll treat the Orps like the Leghorns, and I 
bet we get eggs to sell.” 

“ Or to scramble,” muttered Gussie looking down 
at her shoe. 

Within half an hour the Orpingtons, all ex- 
cept the two on Fifth Street, were safely housed 
again, the girls and Dr. Gregg coatless and cuffless 
proving himself ‘^a good feller,” as Moses said 
afterward with deep satisfaction, “ and one that 
hain’t been spoiled by too much lamin’.” 

As he caught the hens and raised them for the 
others to take, Mr. Carter’s tongue was busy. 

I’ve sort of neglected this end of the premises, 
back out of sight as it is. These hemlocks got 
started here and grew like Jehoshaphat ; it is s’ rich 
around this wall, and I just let ’em grow till they 
got to be a regular hedge. Queer it should happen 
that the men brought the gray boss here last night. 
If it hadn’t been for that Jim would have had 
these off where I’d never seen ’em again, of course. 
This shed hain’t been used before in a year. Here, 
Winifred, here’s the last one. You take ’er. There ! 
346 


HUNTINGDON, FOR THEE^^ 


That job is done. Here, Perfesser, youVe got 
moreen your hands full. Give me a couple of 'em. 
Now, forward march t' the hen-house ! " 

In the forward march " Mr. Carter led the 
procession, followed by Lillian, hugging a large 
hen in her arms, talking animatedly to Dr. Cregg. 
This phase in her acquaintanceship was noted 
uneasily by the others. 

“ What do you suppose she's telling him ? " 
asked M. Gussie in a murmur. 

That's a conundrum, as usual," returned Clara. 
“ Anything which occurs to her." 

The next moment she fairly stumbled over Dr. 
Cregg's feet as he leaned forward depositing his 
load inside the door of the Orpingtons' sun parlor, 
and with a chill convulsing her spine, heard Lillian 
saying sweetly : 

But really. Dr. Cregg, if it had not been for 
you the hens wouldn't have been found at all, 
because Gussie " 

That young lady's toe slid raspingly down Lil- 
lian's heel while spasms of coughs convulsed the 
throats of the other girls. 

Dr. Cregg, his head in the sun parlor, suppressed 
a smile which was suddenly deepened and subtly 
changed by Mrs. Carter's voice. 

She came past the yard of Rameses the Great, 
saying gaspingly, ^^Dr. Cregg, there is a call for 
347 


A SENIOR CO-ED 

you at the tel-ephone. Miss Shreve wants to talk 
to you.” 

As soon as he had departed — moving rapidly — 
Gussie turned on Lillian. 

Don’t you ever, ever tell that man that I ran 
away from him. Now mind ! ” 

But Gussie,” ignored Lillian repentantly, ‘‘ I 
was entertaining him, and that’s the most enter- 
taining thing 1 could think of to say I But I 
promise for the future, crisscross hearts I ” 

When they returned to the house, however, he 
was gone and the household settled down to enjoy 
a season of calm. 

The men came back from the woods with an ac- 
count of discovery of many rabbits, but of neither 
Jim nor the hens. Mr. Carter went into the city 
after dinner and returned with the two fowls from 
the Bird and Animal House, so that the hen 
huzzy ” again had her full number of fowls to 
care for. 

The last words which Belle Eaton heard as 
she drifted early into dreamland that night was 
Winifred’s heartfelt, “ I am so thankful that the 
Orpingtons are found.” 

‘‘But Jim isn’t, and probably won’t be,” mut- 
tered Belle drowsily. 

“ Mr. Carter isn’t going to hunt for him,” re- 
turned Winifred. “ He says it’s too much trouble. 
348 


HUNTINGDON, FOR THEE^* 


He's going to put a better lock on the hen-house 
door." 

“ Put Newsy on its track," mumbled Belle. 
“ He'll find " She was asleep. 

Sunday afternoon, to the delight of the Carters- 
ville household. Miss Susan Bates walked in. She 
began to talk the moment she opened the door. 
Removing her wraps, she sat down remarking. 

As long as I am so cordially urged I'll stay to 
supper, thank you ! " 

Trouble with you. Sue," commented Moses 
raising his voice, you don't stop talkin' long 
enough to give a feller a chance to ask you " 

“ Perhaps that was the trouble in my early 
days ! " cut in Miss Bates with a twinkle in her 
eyes. Maybe that accounts for the fact that I 
can put ^ Miss ' on my tombstone. If so, thank 
fortune I'm a talker ! " 

She clasped her hands in her lap and winked 
solemnly at the laughing girls. “ I'm not wanted 
at home. I never thought to live to see the day 
when my own fiesh and blood desired my absence 
to my presence ! " Then she twinkled until her 
face was a mass of fine lines, and addressed herself 
more especially to Winifred. “ That photograph 
is not only face up, but standing up on the most 
conspicuous place on Elise's dresser." She leaned 
back a moment and rocked. 

349 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


We want to know all about it — and him — Dr. 

Cregg and ” The six girls were all speaking 

at once. 

“ Yes, Sue.’^ Moses stretched his feet out on top 
of the radiator. Let off steam about that chicken 
thief that ain’t no thief.” 

“ If you could see Elise’s face,” retorted Miss 
Bates, “ you’d know he is a thief, although he 
doesn’t steal chickens. Most girls are fools, sooner 
or later,” wagging her head, her face filled with 
intense satisfaction over the particular brand of 
foolishness which was afflicting her niece. When 
Elise came and I saw that photo on its face, and a 
bundle of letters tied up so tight that the cord 
cut into their edges, I said to myself, ‘ It’s some- 
thing beside Domestic Art and Science that’s on 
her nerves ’ I ” 

“ Romance ! ” breathed Belle rapturously. 

The girls hitched their chairs unconsciously 
nearer Miss Bates. The Twisters smacked their 
lips slightly in anticipation of a feast of words. 

There are some corners I can see around,” pur- 
sued Miss Bates, twinkling with a relish at her 
audience, “and I’m nothing loath not to take 
you around ’em too — now I Elise didn’t confide 
in me. Oh, no I ” With satisfaction. “ She was 
too proud. But I saw. Foreign postmarks came 
and were not answered. The envelopes were all 
350 


HUNTINGDON, FOR THEE'' 


forwarded from Indiana, so he thought all the 
time she was there. I saw the envelopes. 
Couldn’t help it when the R. D. man brought 
’em. But that photo came out of the hat box and 
got elevated gradually. Then, one day, when I 
swept her room, I saw the cord on the letters had 
been cut ” 

The Twisters smacked their lips again, but Miss 
Bates hastened to add sternly, “ Not one letter did 
I read. But the day we came over here before 
Hallowe’en, it seems Dr. Cregg came to Hunting- 
don and went to my house to see Elise and didn’t 
find us home. You see he heard she was sick and 
he had gone West to see her in spite of the fact that 
she hadn’t answered his letters, and then he had 
to track her back to me. Well, he went to a neigh- 
bor’s and found out where we were and all about 
what was going on, and that night he came here. 
You know about that. Next day, that’s yesterday, 
he came to call right away after Elise had started 
over here. He came in and we had a little * heart 
to heart ’ talk.” 

There was a stir of renewed interest which Miss 
Bates checked. “ No, I’m not going to tell you 
what we said, only that he came feeling awfully 
down-hearted, and ended by coming over here after 
her feeling quite pert and chirk.” 

Miss Bates paused to chuckle. ‘‘Guess when 

351 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


she saw that gun pointed at him she awakened 
suddenly to the fact that she needed him ! ’’ 

Moses dropped back in his chair and sat on the 
middle of his spine. “ If you ain’t aggravatin’,” 
he declared, “ then I never seen an aggravatin’ 
Carter ! Why do you go and leave out all the in- 
terestin’ parts? ” 

The fine lines crossed and recrossed Miss Bates’ 
face. Well, Mose, here’s something that I won’t 
leave out — Dr. Cregg thinks you have the cham- 
pion stables in the state.” 

Happenings are happening happily although 
haphazardly.” This from Belle on Tuesday morn- 
ing when the six girls were journeying Hillward 
behind a brand new short, thick-set shover ” who 
disliked the auto horn and refrained from exer- 
cising it. Just as we thought ourselves helpless 
we were most ” 

Most helpful,” supplemented Lillian with a 
happy sigh. She had crowded a deal of truth un- 
consciously into those two words. 

There’s one thing only that worries me now,” 
murmured Winifred, but she did not say what it 
was — then. 

In the Hall of Languages Landon joined her, his 
mouth stretched into a wide and delighted grin. 

Heard the news ? ” he demanded. 

352 


HUNTINGDON, FOR THEE'* 


I certainly have/' she retorted. And what 
is more, I've heard more than you have." 

Make good your boast," he invited. 

“ I'm afraid I ought not to tell," she began in a 
conscience-smitten tone. Then she stopped, dim- 
pled mischievously and added, No, I won't 
tell " 

Oh, say, now ! " Landon protested. 

“ but if Miss Shreve is in chapel and takes 

off her gloves, look at the third finger of her left 
hand." 

Landon smiled sympathetically, glancing down 
with a proprietary air at the third finger of Wini- 
fred's left hand, at present not visibly encircled. 

“Already!" he exclaimed with satisfaction. 
“ Didn't lose any time, did he ? Good luck 
to 'em 1 " 

Suddenly Landon plunged his hands into his 
pockets and examined the toe of his shoe thought- 
fully. “ Winifred," he inquired at length, 
“ wouldn't it be rude — unheard of, in fact — for 
a bride to return a wedding gift ? Refuse to take 
it, don't ye know ? " 

Winifred raised puzzled eyes to her questioner. 
“ Of course it would — a gift from a friend that 
is." 

Landon nodded sagely. “Then I've got the 
old note business figured out. She's got to accept 
353 


A SENIOR CO-ED 

that note from mother and father as a wedding 
gift ! 

As the Alpha Gamma seniors filed into chapel 
that morning an unexpected sight met their eyes. 
On the platform sat Chancellor Haight. Him 
they had expected to see, also the tall, slender 
man who sat next. But it was the third figure 
in the row which caused their astonishment. It 
was a figure gotten up regardless,^^ from the 
patent leathers which ought not to have appeared 
except as a support to evening dress, to the flam- 
boyant tie which had come out of New York City 
and was a good advertisement of a dozen brilliant 
dyes. 

Moses sat at his ease, a target for the eyes of a 
chapelful of students. He was in his element. 
Why should not a successful captain of the farm- 
ing industry occupy the platform with a college 
president and a milk analyzer ? He beamed joy- 
fully down on the six girl seniors in the front row 
of seats and the six smiled delightedly back while 
they wondered. 

He has kept this as a surprise for us,’’ whis- 
pered Lillian. Can’t you see the joy of the sur- 
prise sticking out at every angle ? ” 

A tall girl was ushered down the aisle to the 
senior seats. She had blue black hair and black 
eyes. Her hands were not only gloved, but further 
354 


HUNTINGDON, FOR THEE^^ 


protected by a muff. There was a lovely color on 
her usually pale cheeks. She sat down beside 
Winifred and looked everywhere save at the second 
figure on the platform — the second figure did not 
guard his eyes so carefully, however ! 

Winifred’s hand stole into the muff and squeezed 
Elise’s. Then she whispered anxiously of the one 
worry which beset her. ‘‘ Elise, you won’t be able 
— now — to help us with the colonial teas, will you? ” 
The answer was prompt and decided. “ I shall 
help you up to the last tea you choose to give — 
provided,” here the pink on her cheeks deepened, 
that you stop giving them before spring.” 
Winifred almost spoke out loud in her delight. 
“ Spring I Why, we shall stop before Christmas 
with enough money for the house furnishings — 
that is enough furnishings so we can get along 
beautifully. Elise, you’re a jewel ! ” 

After the responsive service was concluded, 
Chancellor Haight arose, ran his fingers through 
the hair behind his ears, and spoke. He had a 
tale to relate, he said, and he was sure, sooner or 
later, that the students would hear other tales 
which he was not at liberty to tell. 

Here Dr. Cregg laughed while eight girls and 
four young men writhed and looked embarrassed. 

Will that hold-up leak out?” whispered M. 
Gussie to Clara Pike. 


355 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


Then the chancellor told the story of the efforts 
of the trustees to secure the services of Dr. Cregg. 
There was an occasional hiatus which a few of his 
auditors only could fill. The student body for the ^ 
first time heard of the achievements of Dr. Cregg, 
of the practical importance of his work, and of the 
fact that Huntingdon, after months of endeavor, 
had finally secured his services. 

‘‘ But,” continued Chancellor Haight, smilingly 
turning to the third figure on the platform, “ to be 
perfectly honest with you, it was not the efforts of 
the trustees which at last attracted Dr. Cregg to 
Huntingdon, but the splendid dairy of a friend of 
the college, Mr. Moses Carter, and the fact that Mr. 
Carter is perfectly willing that his fine barn shall 

be transformed into an experiment station ” 

Landon had been waiting for a chance. It came 
his way at that moment, for the chancellor paused 
in a way the students understood. Moses Carter 
hooked his thumbs into the armholes of his vest 
and smiled. Then as the cheering increased he 
grinned. As the yell of Speech, speech,” split 
the air, he beamed so expansively that the corners 
of his mouth threatened to touch his ears. Then ^ 
he got to his feet with difficulty and spoke. He 
said: 

It^s all I can do t^ run four hundred acres of 
land and seven hired men and a passel of blooded 

35b 


HUNTINGDON, FOR THEE^* 

stock. 1^11 leave speech-makin^ t’ them as can do 
it.'' 

He sat down and beamed down delightedly at 
the front seat, while the chapel listened decorously 
again to one who proved that he was among the 
number as can do it." Among other things Dr. 
Gregg explained Mr. Carter's barns and dairy and 
the advantages of working under circumstances 
such as he found there. So interestingly did he 
talk that the owner of four hundred acres was fully 
persuaded that his was the finest dairy equipment 
in the country. He was in his element for days 
afterward showing students over his premises. 

When the new member of the faculty had finished 
his speech, and the chapel was slowly emptying 
itself, Winifred noticed for the first time that a 
number of the trustees and alumni from the city 
occupied the side seats with the greater part of the 
faculty. As they were crowding forward to meet 
Dr. Gregg, Louise Grey sauntered down the aisle, 
and meeting Winifred said in a low tone : 

i For ways that are dark 
And tricks that are vain ’ 

the senior girls are peculiar — but, after all, you girls 
were actually instrumental in securing the services 
of Dr. Gregg, for if it hadn't have been for you 
he would never have inspected Mr. Carter's barn." 

357 


A SENIOR CO-ED 


Winifred stopped short. Then her dimples ap- 
peared. Why, Louise ! I hadn’t thought of it 
that way. Yes, of course, we did help.” 

Outside arose a strong chorus of male voices. 
The refrain was a favorite in the college. 

Huntingrdon, for thee 
May thy sons be leal and loyal. 

To thy memory.^’ 


Other Stories in this Series are: 
A FRESHMAN CO-ED 
A SOPHOMORE CO-ED 
A JUNIOR CO-ED 


4 o w 


358 
























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